A University of South Carolina Mass Communications Ph.D. graduate has been named the 2025 Public Relations Society of America Outstanding Educator.
Hilary Fussell Sisco, Ph.D., APR received the award in October, an honor presented annually to educators who have made significant contributions to the public relations field.
Sisco, now a professor of public relations at Quinnipiac University, earned her doctorate from USC in 2008. She said her dedication to completing the program became her “whole life,” a commitment she credits with shaping her success.
Throughout her career, Sisco has emphasized the importance of building relationships. She encourages current and future students to make meaningful connections within the profession, noting that those networks have played a defining role in her work as an educator.
Sisco’s journey in higher education began at Virginia Tech, where she studied public communications. After graduating, she joined the university’s College of Natural Resources in the Office of Public Affairs, an experience she says sparked her interest in pursuing graduate studies.
She went on to complete a master’s degree at Radford University, where she also had the opportunity to teach for the first time. That experience helped her discover a passion for both education and research. Recognizing her strengths in both areas, a faculty mentor at Radford encouraged her to continue on to a Ph.D. program.
Immediately after graduating, she began working for the Office of Public Affairs at the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech. Her work at the College of Natural Resources is what she says inspired her to get her master’s degree.
In 2005, Sisco began her doctoral studies at USC, and she said she was drawn to the school for various reasons.
“The number one thing I really liked was that it was a mass communications Ph.D.,” she said, adding that allowed for a “mix of backgrounds” in the various areas of public relations. Sisco also got to teach classes during that time, which was another driving factor in her selecting the school as she knew she wanted to pursue a career in education.
Sisco was part of a five-person doctoral cohort, placing her on the same academic track as four other students. The small-group environment encouraged her to connect beyond her cohort and collaborate with master’s students, exposing her to a range of perspectives she says contributed to her success.
Sisco noted that her time at USC also strengthened her work ethic, as she balanced her doctoral studies with multiple service commitments, including presenting at conferences.
Eric Collins, Ph.D., who conducted research with Sisco, praised her work, saying, “Of all the graduate students I’ve encountered at USC, she’s by far, for me, the very best. I would trust her to teach a class that I would be teaching.”
Sisco said that in addition to conducting research with Collins and other faculty, USC provided significant opportunities to share her work beyond campus — an aspect of the program she found especially valuable. Her research focused on crisis communication, particularly how nonprofits respond to emergencies and how those actions shape public perception. She said she was drawn to the topic to better understand how communication shifts when it involves an issue people care about deeply.
Collins said he always expected Sisco to excel in academia, noting that during her doctoral studies she functioned as a “junior colleague” and was “top notch when it came to methodology.”
Sisco says her time at USC shaped the educator she is today by encouraging her to step outside her comfort zone and learn from faculty whose diverse research backgrounds broadened her perspective.
Sisco believes strong educators not only teach foundational concepts but also demonstrate how those ideas apply in real-world settings.
“The best part of me as an educator is working to study and apply material for my students,” she said.
Gigi DuFour is a sophomore in the South Carolina Honors College, where she is pursuing a degree in Bbiology on a pre-vet track. Beyond academics, she is a member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority and loves to spend her free time reading. She wrote this article for her Honors Writing for Mass Communications Class taught by Bertram Rantin.