Fun Fact: When I graduated from college, my gift from my parents was a three month trip exploring Europe. My mother is from Italy and bought me a Eurorail pass and gave me an itinerary. I visited more than a dozen cities and met relatives I never knew I had!

Gina Martino Dahlia knew she was a teacher in September of 2001, after watching a student’s TV story on the dangerous threat of anthrax in U.S. mail. She saw how much her student had learned and how the quality of her work had improved. She saw how her own belief, passion and refusal to accept mediocrity put students on paths that improved their lives.

Known as an exceedingly assertive and demanding professor who will push her students to create the best work they can, Dahlia is also beloved by students for the time she invests in their TV productions and for her accessibility.

And these are just a few of the reasons Dahlia was named a recipient of the 2012 WVU Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching. This prestigious award is the highest recognition of excellence in teaching at the University.

Dahlia’s former students now work at television stations across the country – often with the help of her persuasive reference letters and phone calls- and when they decide that’s not where life is taking them, she’s just as supportive.

“They know they can call or text me any time of the day or night with interview questions, camera help in the field or editing support in the newsroom,” said Dahlia, Television Journalism Program Chair and teaching associate professor in the WVU Reed College of Media.

One of her main roles is as executive producer of “WVU News,” an award-winning newscast filmed by TVJ students that airs on PBS and cable TV in West Virginia. “WVU News,” recently won a national first place college Emmy from The Television Academy and was named the best college newscast in America.

Dahlia is also an award-winning filmmaker. Her documentary, “The Monongah Heroine,” aired on PBS in December 2007 and received worldwide press and media attention. The film focuses on the widows left behind from the December 6, 1907, Monongah (W.Va.) mine disaster.

She joined WVU’s College of Media in 2001 and became the head of the television journalism program in 2007. Dahlia obtained both her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree (2007) from WVU, majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. 

You can reach her with story ideas via twitter @ginadahlia and through her e-mail at  gina.dahlia@mail.wvu.edu.