Alumnae Spotlight
Ashley Mengwasser '09
English Literature
Atlanta’s Ashley Mengwasser is a six-time Emmy-winning TV/digital lifestyle host, writer, and producer. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from Agnes Scott in 2009 with a BA in English Literature and a minor in Psychology. Her decade-long career in the media industry is proof that millennials educated by the ASC Psychology Department make great television! Ashley started as the quirky, daredevil co-host of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s series Georgia Traveler. Today, she hosts a variety of entertainment content, from DIY to doggies. In 2018, she was handpicked to host Lowe’s Home Improvement’s hilariously explosive competition “DIY-No-Mite” (YouTube). Then, she packed a duffel bag full of treats to film the top-syndicated pet travel special Pets Welcome Here (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, The CW) with her adventuresome basset hound Rosie “co-hosting.” Given her psychology background, Ashley appreciates “media for the mind.” Each spring, she co-hosts two college invention shows: the Georgia Tech InVenture Prize and ACC InVenture Prize (GPB). The programs have affectionately become known as “American Idol…for nerds.” In 2015-2016, she traveled to China to write, co-direct, and executive produce the cultural documentary Chinese Tea: Elixir of the Orient. The program swept the Emmys in 2017, and Ashley won her first trophy in the writing category (her photo). Ashley says, “Becoming educated about human psychology truly prepared me for the social dynamics in the media industry. Understanding how and why people think, feel, and behave as they do is critical to connecting with them as a storyteller and on-camera interviewer." Ashley's favorite undergraduate psychology courses were Abnormal Psychology and Counseling. “Topics like self-esteem, altruism, culture, motivation, and conformity come up daily in my work. I’m grateful to have the valuable foundation in psychology Agnes Scott has given me.”