SU's Morris Receives Prestigious DMAWEF O'Hara Leadership Award

SALISBURY, MD---For years, Salisbury University’s Paula Morris has been a leader both in and out of the classroom.

The Direct Marketing Association of Washington Education Foundation (DMAWEF) recently recognized the professor of practice in the Franklin P. Perdue School’s Management and Marketing Department with its prestigious O’Hara Leadership Award.

The honor was presented during DMAWEF’s annual Best of Direct event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

A long-time member of the association, Morris is part of its Leadership Circle and frequent attendee of its annual Professor’s Institute, as well as a contributor to the organization’s blog. In the past two years, she has led two teams of SU students to the top prize in the association’s semi-annual MAXI Award marketing competition.

Morris is a strong advocate of community involvement in education. Each semester, students in her Advertising and Promotions Management classes are paired with area non-profits and tasked with managing a fundraising or profile-raising event. As a result, students have raised more than $150,000 in money and in-kind services for local charities.

In addition, she has focused on the use of social media marketing, asking students to determine how they want themselves to be seen (their “brand”) and challenging them to come up with a plan to promote that brand online. She was invited to present the concept as part of a Hootsuite online marketing panel at SXSWedu, one of the nation’s preeminent education conferences.

She also is not shy about introducing students to professionals in the marketing and promotions industry, including fellow DMAW members and former students now working in the field. Classroom guests are common.

Beyond SU, Morris is the founder of Kids of Honor, a non-profit organization working with children as early as the fourth grade to provide them with the guidance and incentives they need to graduate high school. With Dr. George Whitehead, SU psychology professor emeritus, she helped oversee the Wicomico Youth Leadership Academy for middle and high school students for 10 years at SU.

Morris has earned the President’s Call to Service Award for lifetime achievement from the White House, as well as the National Points of Light Award. She also has been named among “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” by the Baltimore-based Daily Record.

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.