KENT, Ohio — Kent State Student Media recognizes Journalism and Mass Communication professor and Student Media adviser Jacqueline Marino for earning a 2019 Distinguished Teaching Award, Kent State University’s highest teaching honor. 

Marino joined the journalism faculty in 2006 after more than a decade of writing nonfiction stories and essays for magazines, newspapers and alternative newsweeklies. She teaches classes in the business of publishing and feature writing, as well as courses that require journalists, designers and programmers to work together on semester-long projects. She also advises The Burr and A Magazine, two of our 10 media partners.

Marino said it took a week for the feeling of being a DTA winner to sink in.

“It’s just one of those things,” Marino said. “I was aware of this award when I first started teaching here, and I have been taught by people who have gotten this award before, and the thought that at some point I would get it myself, I just can’t believe it, it just seems so far fetched.”

Marino said teaching is not something that has always come easy for her. She has worked hard to be the teacher she is today and impact students the way she does. Marino works to find new ways to better engage students in and out of the classroom.

“It still requires a lot, and before every class I still get a little nervous and excited,” Marino said. “There’s always a mission and goals I want to accomplish each class.”

It has been an eventful year for Marino as she received a promotion to full professor at the beginning of the year. Marino said her students remind her of herself and she does not want to let them down.

“It’s a joy to teach what I love and see people who have the same passion even though they are much younger,” Marino said. “I can see the spark in them and I can recognize it and help students bring that spark out. I really love my students. I feel like I still have so much more to do as a teacher and improve myself as well.”

Marino’s students look up to her and weren’t as surprised that she won because they know how hard she works and how great of a teacher she is.

“Even though I’ve only been working with Jacquie as A’s editor this semester, I’ve been working with her as a student for a couple of years and it felt like she was my ‘adviser’ even then,” said Abigail Miller, senior journalism major and A Magazine editor. “It came as no surprise to me that she would be recognized. She’s done a lot for me and continues to do a lot for A Magazine.”

The recipients were recognized at the University Teaching Council Conference luncheon on Friday, Oct. 25. To read more about Marino’s accomplishment visit www.kent.edu/cci/news/professor-jacquie-marino-earns-prestigious-distinguished-teaching-award.

About the Distinguished Teaching Award

Sponsored by the Kent State Alumni Association, the DTA is the university’s most prestigious honor in teaching. The award is presented annually to three full-time faculty members who demonstrate extraordinary teaching in the classroom and a devotion to touching the lives of students. Qualified nominees include Kent State tenure track faculty who are currently employed by the university. For more information about the DTA visit www.kent.edu/alumni/nominate-professor

Written by: Vanessa Gresley