Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA: Indian American academic Harsha Gangadharbatla has been appointed interim dean of the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina, effective August 1, according to an announcement made by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Magnus Egerstedt on July 29.

Gangadharbatla currently serves as the school's Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs and is the Hugh Morton Distinguished Professor. He succeeds Raul Reis, who stepped down after four years as dean to focus on research and teaching.

The University of North Carolina said Gangadharbatla brings more than a decade of higher education leadership experience. Before joining UNC, he played a key role in establishing the College of Media, Communication and Information at the University of Colorado Boulder, the institution's first new college in more than five decades.

During his tenure at Colorado Boulder, he served as Associate Dean for Faculty Development and was the founding chair of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media.

Gangadharbatla has also held several leadership positions in academic organizations, including serving as president of the American Academy of Advertising and leading the advertising division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

His contributions to teaching and academia have earned him several honors, including the Charles H. Sandage Award for Teaching Excellence and the William Payden Award for Faculty Excellence.

His research focuses on the impact of technology in advertising, the role of advertising in society and environmental communication. Academically, he holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology in India, a master's degree in advertising from Michigan State University, and a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.

The university also confirmed that a nationwide search for a perm