She holds a MA in Mass Communication and a PhD in Corporate Communication, both from the University of Oklahoma. Uysal is the recipient of the 2012-2013 James E. Grunig and Larissa A. Grunig Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Public Relations Division of the International Communication Association (ICA). She is a three-time winner of the Top Faculty Paper Award from the National Communication Association and the winner of the Peter Debreceny Corporate Communication Top Paper Award from the Institute for Public Relations Research.