Every year, the Public Relations Society of America recognizes the nation's top performers in the art of public affairs and communications with various awards. On Thursday, October 20th, in the light of the San Diego skyline, Alliant was among the honorees at the Edward L. Bernays Award Ceremony.

Over 200 public relations professionals attended the ceremony, and Alliant was the only University to win an award that evening. Alliant was awarded the Bronze Bernays in the 'Blogs' category for the Game of Thrones: Psychological Profiles piece that Professors Janina Scarlet, Ph.D. and Allison C. Peters, Ph.D.; Alum Megan Hawkins, Ph.D.; and staffer Cielo Villasenor put together in May.

The award’s namesake was an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". He combined the ideas of Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter on crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle, Sigmund Freud.