Grady Fellowship Profile: Parker Middleton

Congratulations to Parker Middleton (Ph.D. ’00, MFA ’21), one of the honorees to be inducted into the Grady College Fellowship during Grady Salutes on April 25, 2025.

Middleton came to the University of Georgia in 1991 after a career in advertising and public relations, marked by award-winning work for local, regional and international clients. While at the University of Georgia, Middleton served as a teacher, founding associate director of the Writing Intensive Program in Franklin College, director of Grady’s undergraduate advising and admissions programs, senior director of Grady’s philanthropic program and creator of the Career Explorations in Journalism and Mass Communication course that she developed and co-taught with Dean Charles Davis featuring alumni talent. Middleton has developed many legacy programs at Grady and mentored countless students prior to stepping down in 2021 to devote herself to writing screenplays and advocating for non-profit causes.

Following are excerpts from an interview with Middleton.

Grady College: How has mentorship helped you through your career?

Middleton: Mentoring is a form of teaching. It has been a two-way street — make that more like virtuous circles. While I’ve mentored students, it is they who have mentored me even more. They shared what they were learning and kept me fresh. And still do. I was fortunate to have had phenomenal mentors in my advertising and public relations career. One of them, an alumna, even led me to Grady and the late Ron Lane. Maybe most of all, members of the Grady Board of Trust and Grady Fellowship have continually mentored me!  They were and are unfailingly generous. Meeting them in their offices, working together on behalf of Grady and UGA, I saw their professionalism in action. I could always call a board member if I had a tough decision to make, a problem to solve or an opportunity to gauge. I wish for that kind of support and mutual nurturing for every student and alum.

Grady College: How did time at Grady shape who you are today?

Middleton: My time at Grady is who I am today. It’s a large part of my identity. Being connected in multiple ways to institutions like Grady and UGA means you have a heritage and a posse with lasting bonds. It was such a privilege to have the chance to earn Grady’s M.F.A. in Digital Narrative and Screenwriting while working and teaching. What an opportunity. I’m grateful for Nate Kohn for encouraging me. It made me not only a UGA dawg but a Grady alumna! Because of Grady’s outreach to LA, I had the honor of getting to know Brenda Hampton, producer and screenwriter. She and Jody Danneman inspired me to develop a new chamber of skills and a new chamber of skills in writing and producing. Again, an opportunity I had only because of Grady. 

Grady College: What does this recognition mean to you?

Middleton: Oh gosh. I’m humbled because I know the founding premise of the Fellowship and the stature of those it recognizes. History lesson: The class list is a Who’s Who of luminaries of the past 100-plus years in journalism and mass communications, leadership and influence. When Dean Emeritus Cully Clark and I met alumni and friends around the country, we were struck by the presence of some kind of invisible bonds they shared — their gratitude and goodwill toward Grady. Their shared purpose and commitment to its values. That’s the essence of “fellowship” as a form of friendship. Cully and I used to say that the Fellowship existed before it was formally created. It’s a powerful thing. Along with my marriage to Kent (Middleton, emeritus professor of journalism), being part of a loving family and having friendships through Grady — including the late Don Carter and Conard Fink, the forces of nature Carolyn Tieger and Jenn Sloan, the super-connected Gloria Taylor who gave me every book from the Hearst Management Institute, learning  about leadership and doing good from Tom Johnson and Maxine Clark — being formally part of the Grady Fellowship is the top honor of my life. 

Grady College: What skills, values and/or circumstances have factored into your success? 

Middleton: Having the good fortune to be exposed to leaders who gave me opportunities. In my advertising and PR days, this meant I was around truly creative people who challenged me. At UGA, this dynamic also goes back to Dean John Soloski who hired me to manage the admissions program and gave me open field to tackle it as a public relations challenge….then to Dean Clark, who reminded the college of it’s deep history yet was such a builder of future-focused Grady programs…and then to Dean Davis, who gave me such creative freedom and always said “Let’s do it!” The people in my path formed a kind of pro learning lab. 

Grady College: What do you value as some of the most important communications skills?

Middleton: Listening — asking generative questions and practicing restraint — not always pressing advantage. That brings me to the importance of grace. Even tough communications can have an element of grace and humility. They’re more persuasive when they do. Good conversation for it’s own sake is a grace in itself. Then there is the power of following up. Whether a text or email of phone call, I’m so moved when someone does it. Our students learn that follow-up builds credibility.  Grady grads do this a part of their DNA.  They accept the invitation for a cup of coffee with a fellow alum or friend of an alum. They get back. They answer the call.

Grady College: What advice would you offer to students?

Middleton: Cherish the bonds you’re building. Stay connected. Be there for each other with your presence. Come back. When you meet a fellow Grady grad, you’ll find it’s kind of a homecoming. Especially if there’s some Grady merch around!  You’ve all built Grady into a powerful brand.  Kent and I were on a flight from Belgrade to Milan after a Cox Center program on press freedom with Tudor Vlad. At 35,000 feet somewhere over the Dolomites, a guy comes down the aisle and said “Are ya’ll from Grady?” He was an alum working in Milan and saw our luggage tag in the overhead bin.  Then there’s the time I was offered $500 for a Grady cap after the Peabody Awards at the Waldorf Astoria’s Bull & Bear (RIP) bar. (I didn’t sell!)  You all have stories like this. Keep them going. Burnish your bonds and their talismans. 

Grady College: What insights do you have on the relation between leadership and philanthropy?

Middleton: I was privileged to be the conduit for many alumni back to the College and the University. It as an immensely rewarding role because it allowed me to see the gratitude alumni hold for their Grady days and the work Grady and UGA continue to do. I was so moved by the affection and generosity of our alumni and friends. I was often reminded that the late dean emeritus Scott Cutlip situated “fundraising” communication and practices within public relations, as a part of a communications loop. I took that to heart.  Effective leaders give, care and serve as part of their ethos and compelling example. They form a kind of fellowship through their philanthropy. What an honor it was to develop friendships for the Grady cause.

The 2025 Fellowship Inductees will be recognized along with the 2025 Alumni Award recipients during the annual Grady Salutes event. This year’s Grady Salutes will be a luncheon on Friday, April 25. Details about sponsorship information and reservations can be found on our Grady Salutes registration page.

Editor: Lauren A. Pike, lauren.pike@uga.edu