Dr. Pharr holds the dual roles of Chief of Staff of the President’s Office and Vice President for Marketing and Communications.
As Chief of Staff, Dr. Pharr provides counsel to the President and serves as the principal liaison with the University System Chancellor’s Office. She also serves as the administrative liaison with the UGA Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, as well as the vice presidents of Government Relations, Development and Alumni Affairs, and Finance and Administration, all of which report directly to the President. In addition, she provides administrative oversight of the offices of Internal Audit and Equal Opportunity, which report through the Chief of Staff to the President.
She further supervises the Assistants to the President, acts as principal liaison with the UGA Foundation, and provides administrative oversight of the President’s Sky Suite during football season and of all special events involving the President. In addition, Dr. Pharr serves on a number of special task forces and committees as the President’s representative.
As Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Dr. Pharr oversees the Division of Marketing and Communications, which partners with key University units to develop research-driven, results-oriented communications, marketing, and media plans that advance University objectives and tell the institution’s story. The division includes Strategic Marketing, Media Communications, WUGA-FM, and the UGA Visitors Center. Dr. Pharr supervises the Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications, who manages day-to-day operation of the division.
Dr. Pharr has risen through the ranks of the University of Georgia since joining the School of Law as its Director of Communications and Public Relations in 1993, following six years in broadcast news. She has served previously as Assistant to the President, Assistant Vice President for Finance and Administration, Director of Health Sciences Campus Administration, and Associate Vice President for Institutional Affairs.
She holds three degrees from UGA: a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in journalism, a master’s degree in public administration, and a doctorate in higher education management. In 1996, she received the Young Alumnus Award from the Georgia chapter of the Blue Key National Honor Society. In 2021, she was named the inaugural recipient of the UGA Foundation Distinguished Service Scroll, which established a need-based Georgia Commitment Scholarship in her name. Dr. Pharr speaks as an invited guest lecturer for various campus leadership programs on such topics as crisis management, leadership development, and higher education communications.