Dr. Lauren Hearit, assistant professor of management, has received this year鈥檚 Hope Outstanding Professor Educator (H.O.P.E.) Award from the graduating Class of 2025.
The H.O.P.E. award, first given in 1965, is presented by the graduating class to the professor who they feel epitomizes the best qualities of the Hope College educator. Hearit received the recognition on Sunday, May 4, during the college鈥檚 Commencement ceremony at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium, where she was already onstage as the scheduled featured speaker.
Hearit has been a member of the Hope faculty since 2017. Her courses include Marketing Management, Management Perspectives and Theory, Senior Seminar and Management Seminar.
Her research focuses on the intersection of economics, strategic communication and organizational communication. She is interested in how economic and political actors shape perceptions about the performance of the economy.
She has had multiple articles published in refereed professional journals. Hope named her a Towsley Research Scholar, a four-year award, in 2020.
Hearit graduated from Western Michigan University in 2012 with majors in public policy and French, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She completed a master鈥檚 degree in public affairs and issue management at Purdue University in 2014, and a doctorate in organizational communication at Purdue in 2018. She also holds a certificate in international strategic communication, completed in 2015, from Copenhagen Business School.