Marion Just is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College and a research associate of the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is a consultant to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a member of the advisory board of the Reform Institute, and the editorial board of the Harvard International Journal of Press Politics.

Professor Just has been a visiting professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard University, and a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She is a co-author of several books, including We Interrupt This Broadcast: …How to Improve Local News and Win Ratings (Cambridge University Press, 2007), Crosstalk: Citizens, Candidates and the Media in a Presidential Campaign (University of Chicago Press, 1996), Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning (University of Chicago Press, 1992). She is co-editor of Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Electoral Reform (Oxford University Press, 2003) and Framing Terrorism: News Media, Government and the Public (Routledge, 2003). Her work also appears in scholarly articles and edited volumes, including three recent collections on emotions and politics.

Professor Just is a past president of the Northeastern Political Science Association and the New England Political Science Association and former Chair of the Political Communication Section of the American Political Science Association. In 2002, she received an "Excellence in Mentoring Award" from the Women's Caucus of the American Political Science Association. In 2003, her co-authored book, Crosstalk was named the Outstanding Book in Political Communication. In 2007, she received the APSA's Murray Edelman Award for a Distinguished Career in Political Communication.

Professor Just's current research projects concern political campaigns, psychological aspects of voting, patterns of news, politics on the internet, and media coverage of women leaders.