Hannah Peterson, a 2016 candidate for graduation in public relations from Milford, Ohio, was honored with the 2016 Catherine Freed Outstanding Senior Female Leadership and Service Award at Ohio Northern University on April 20. The award is named for former University First Lady Catherine Freed.

Peterson is involved in various organizations on campus, holding leadership roles in each. She is a two-term president of the ONU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and was a national assembly delegate in 2014. She received the PRSSA Outstanding New Member Award after showing promise and was named Outstanding Chapter Member for her commitment to the overall success of the organization.

With the nationally affiliated student-run firm True North, Peterson has worked on projects for various clients. Her Bateman Case Study Competition team received honorable mention for the national client FISERV. She served as an event coordinator for the ONU Student Planning Committee and is currently the group’s vice president of external affairs. A sister of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, Peterson served as social chair and historian/chapter reporter. She is a member of ONU Mortar Board, is a member and president of Lambda Pi Eta, and has been on the dean’s list five consecutive semesters.

In addition to schoolwork and leadership roles, Peterson worked as a public relations intern for Cristofoli-Keeling Inc., marketing intern for ONU’s Office of Communications and Marketing, assistant for ONU’s Office of Alumni Relations, and social media intern for ONU Dining Services. Previously, she was a featured blogger for International Studies Abroad’s top-ranked travel blog during her study-abroad experience in Ireland and a special events intern at All Occasions Catering and Banquet Facility in Waldo, Ohio.

The Catherine Freed Outstanding Senior Female Leadership and Service Award is the second major award that Peterson received this year. In October, she was recognized as the 2015 Distinguished Undergraduate Student at the annual Ohio Communication Association Conference.