Faculty & Staff

Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh is a Professor of Journalism and Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Communication.  Her textbook, “Journalism and Gender: Global Perspectives,” with Routledge, was published in August 2025. 

She held the Richard M. Fairbanks endowed chair from 2018 to 2024 and served as Interim Dean from April 2021 to December 2022. Before her appointment as Interim Dean, Dr. Geertsema-Sligh served as Director of the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media for five years. She joined Butler University in 2005 and has taught classes in news writing, gender and news, and global media. 

Dr. Geertsema-Sligh holds a doctorate in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in Communication from Washington State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from North-West University in South Africa. She is a past chair of the International Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and a past co-chair of the Gender and Communication section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research. Her research has been published in several leading academic journals. See www.margarethageertsemasligh.com  for more information.