Mary King, Ph.D.

Dr. Mary E. King (formerly Mary E. Nagy) joined the faculty in 2012. Dr. King earned her Ph.D. from Rutgers University with a focus on Interpersonal Communication and Health Communication. Her dissertation titled The Communicative and Physiological Manifestations of Relational Turbulence during the Empty-Nest Phase of Marital Relationships (2011) was awarded the Top Dissertation Award from the Interpersonal Communication Division of the International Communication Association (2011-2012) and the Sandra Petronio Dissertation Excellence Award from the Family Communication Division of the National Communication Association (2013).
Dr. King's primary research interests include examining close, personal relationships and how communication develops during times of transition in those relationships, and she has a second interest in health communication and behaviors. Currently Dr. King serves as Principle Investigator on a 2-year grant awarded from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) to reduce underage and dangerous drinking on campus (award amount: $35,895). Dr. King is the recipient of two co-authored Top Paper Awards and continues to actively present research at regional, national, and international conferences. Her research has been published in the Western Journal of Communication, the Journal of Family Communication, and the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.

Prior to coming to Bloomsburg University, Dr. King taught for five years at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and two years at Frostburg State University in Maryland. Dr. King teaches primarily in the Interpersonal Communication Track. Her teaching interests are Introduction to Communication Studies, Interpersonal Communication, Relational Communication, Communication Theory, Communication Research Methods, Conflict Communication, and Family Communication.

Dr. King also actively contributes service to the discipline, the university, and the Department of Communication Studies. Dr. King was the faculty advisor to the National Communication Association Student Club at Bloomsburg University (2012-2014) and proudly helped NCASC to achieve the Student Club of the Year award from the National Communication Association, and she is the faculty advisor for Theta Tau Omega sorority (2012-present).