Dr. Lockhart, a Marietta College alumna, joined faculty after 20 years as a communication professional. This included 16 years focused on marketing, public relations, organizational communication, and creative direction in higher education at Ohio University and Washington State Community College. During that time, she earned multiple awards for marketing materials and worked collaboratively with several partner institutions in Ohio and West Virginia to co-market programs. Additionally, as an internal consultant with Chevron, she was part of an award-winning change management planning team and served as a communication lead for rolling out corporate IT initiatives.
Lockhart says her approach to teaching is similar to her approach to working with professional clients; both require a balance between managing the individuals' hesitancies about new discoveries while also nurturing their curiosity, knowledge, and cooperation to help them facilitate their own success. In the classroom, she taps into four valuable lessons learned throughout her professional career: creating a nurturing atmosphere and openness to new ideas; establishing shared expectations and celebrating successes; communicating early, often, and successfully; and bringing high energy to the process.
Her doctorate, from the Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, included emphases in strategic communication and historiography. Her master's degree came from the same school with an emphasis in public relations.
Dr. Lockhart's primary research focus is on mass communication history and often takes the form of biography of persons involved with a specific topic or event that is relevant to journalism. Past projects have included a mini-biography of Angelique le Petit Martin, a Marietta resident in the mid-nineteenth century, and a full biography of A.W. Campbell, one of the founding fathers of West Virginia.