The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at Penn State has honored 29 communicators with the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication across nine ceremonies between 2017 and 2026. The first honorees were Ann Barkelew, Dick Martin and Alan Murray, recognized on February 22, 2017, at an awards dinner in New York City. The 2026 class is Kaitlan Collins, Jeffrey Goldberg, Hubert Joly and Kelli Parsons.
Originally published January 2017. Updated October 20, 2026.
Who Has Won the Page Center Awards?
The Page Center's own honoree page lists 29 award winners from nine ceremonies, grouped below by year with each person's affiliation as the Center lists it. The Center's honoree page shows no ceremony in 2025.
| Year | Honorees (affiliation as listed by the Page Center) |
|---|
| 2026 | Kaitlan Collins (CNN), Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic), Hubert Joly (Best Buy), Kelli Parsons (Avoq) |
| 2024 | Ursula Burns (Teneo Holdings LLC), Sanjay Gupta (CNN), Kelly McGinnis (Levi Strauss & Co) |
| 2023 | Mary Barra (GM), Lester Holt (NBC News), Jon Iwata (IBM) |
| 2022 | Christiane Amanpour (CNN), Kenneth Chenault (General Catalyst), Andy Polansky (IPG DXTRA) |
| 2021 | Dr. Anthony Fauci (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), Bill Heyman (Heyman Associates), Eugene Robinson (Washington Post), Judy Woodruff (PBS) |
| 2020 | Gene Foreman (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Ginger Hardage (Southwest Airlines), Tom Kean (former New Jersey governor) |
| 2019 | Dean Baquet (New York Times), Marilyn Laurie (AT&T), Jack Rowe (Aetna) |
| 2018 | Bill George (Harvard Business School), Gwen Ifill (PBS), John Onoda (Gagen MacDonald) |
| 2017 | Ann Barkelew (FleishmanHillard), Dick Martin (AT&T), Alan Murray (Time Inc.) |
Source: Page Center Awards Honorees, Arthur W. Page Center, Penn State, accessed October 2026. The 29-person total is Everything-PR's count of that list.
Who Were the 2017 Inaugural Honorees?
The 2017 inaugural honorees were Ann Barkelew of FleishmanHillard, Dick Martin of AT&T and Alan Murray of Time Inc. The Center presented the awards at a dinner in New York City on February 22, 2017, attended by nearly 230 public relations professionals and journalists, according to remarks by advisory board chair Bill Nielsen published on February 28, 2017.
Nielsen described the evening as the launch of a new program recognizing people who had demonstrated integrity in public communication throughout their careers. The Center's founder, Lawrence G. Foster, was also honored at the dinner, but the Center lists three award honorees for 2017.
Who Founded the Page Center and Who Was Arthur W. Page?
Larry Foster, a Penn State journalism graduate of 1948, founded the Page Center in 2004 with a $300,000 gift from himself and his wife Ellen, according to Penn State's Bellisario College of Communications. Foster spent 33 years at Johnson & Johnson from 1957, rose to corporate vice president of public relations, and led the company's response to the 1982 Tylenol crisis, according to Nielsen's 2017 remarks.
Arthur W. Page was a corporate communications leader whose principles of practice inspired the Center's name. Nielsen described Page as an icon who believed public permission, based on public understanding, was the key to business success. Page was not a Penn State alumnus and not a major benefactor of the university, according to the Bellisario College.
How Are Page Center Award Winners Chosen?
The Page Center chooses three to four leaders each year through a nomination process and gives each a Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication. The Center says honorees are people who have shown a commitment to the concept of "truth well told" across their careers.
The ceremony began as an awards dinner in New York City and has been a virtual event since 2021. The event raises funds for research by Page Center scholars. Penn State reported that 450 people registered for the 2023 ceremony, which honored Mary Barra, Lester Holt and Jon Iwata.
What Does the Honoree List Show About Who Gets Recognized?
The honoree list shows a deliberate mix of journalists, corporate executives and communications leaders in most classes. The 2021 class, for example, paired Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases with Bill Heyman of Heyman Associates and journalists Eugene Robinson and Judy Woodruff. The 2018 class paired Bill George of Harvard Business School with Gwen Ifill of PBS and John Onoda of Gagen MacDonald.
Nielsen said in 2017 that the Center intended to recognize people across public relations, marketing, advertising and journalism. For communications teams, the practical reading is that the award tracks integrity and public trust, not agency size or campaign results, so it works as a reference point for what the profession's own institutions treat as exemplary.
How Does the Page Center Award Differ from Campaign and Agency Awards?
The Page Center award recognizes individuals for integrity across a career, while most PR awards recognize campaigns or agencies. Cannes Lions, the Clio Awards, PRSA's Silver Anvils and the SABRE Awards judge work and firms, and the PRWeek Awards recognize agencies, campaigns and teams. Everything-PR's PR industry awards overview compares them, with separate guides to the PRSA Anvil Awards and SABRE Awards.
