Education

B.A., Political Science, Temple University
Ph.D., Communication, Temple University

Research and Scholarship

Professor Mary Anne Fitzpatrick has published seven books; three special issues of major journals and over 100 major peer reviewed articles and book chapters. A co-founder of the International Association for Relationship Research, she has been the Cambridge University Press editor for an influential series of books, Advances in Personal Relationships.  She has lectured extensively on her research in this country and abroad.  The quality, reach and impact of her scholarship is very broad. She has published in major peer reviewed journals and handbooks in communication, social psychology, clinical psychology, developmental psychology, health psychology, family sociology, as well as text and discourse studies. Her research has been funded by NIH, NSF, the Spencer Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

In addition to a number of prestigious awards for various books and articles, Fitzpatrick is a Fellow of four major learned societies (i.e., AAAS; ICA: NCA; IARR).  These honors are reserved for faculty scholars of exceptional ability who have achieved national and international distinction in their research careers. She is regularly contacted by faculty and graduate students around the world who request permission to utilize one of her paradigms and measurement techniques in their own research.   The candidate’s research has been referenced and discussed in most major interpersonal textbooks published in the past twenty years. Generations of students have benefitted from her insights on communication in social and personal relationships.

Teaching

Fitzpatrick has taught a range of graduate and undergraduate courses in communication theory, interpersonal communication, persuasion, health communication and research methodology over the course of her career. Recently, she developed a new undergraduate course in Media and Youth  which takes a developmental approach to media effects.  She regularly teaches the doctoral seminar in  Teaching Mass Communication as well as the master’s level practicum in mass communication management.

Service

Since July 1, 2023, Fitzpatrick has served as the USC Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs and Dean of the Faculty in the Office of the Executive Vice President. As vice provost, she is responsible for all faculty hiring, tenure and promotional processes, family friendly policy implementation, and faculty development activities from new faculty orientations to senior leadership training.  Included in her portfolio is the Center for Teaching Excellence which offers numerous programs to support faculty. Serving as the deputy director (faculty) of the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, Fitzpatrick is responsible for the faculty ombuds program as well as the faculty civility office.  She works closely in an ex officio capacity with major committees of the Faculty Senate.  Moreover, Fitzpatrick chairs the USC Policy Advisory Committee which governs the creation, oversight and revision of all formal USC Columbia and System policies. Fitzpatrick also serves as the academic liaison to the SEC.

Fitzpatrick has held a variety of USC administrative positions: Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Vice Provost for Special Academic Initiatives, Vice President of USC System; the Chancellor (interim) of USC Upstate following a career as a faculty member, chair and dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been the President of the International Communication Association as well as the President of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences.