Rate My Professor Nagwan Zahry

Nagwan Zahry serves as Guerry Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She earned her Ph.D. in Advertising and Public Relations from Michigan State University in 2017, with a dissertation titled 'Organizational Fairness and Voluntary Labelling Genetically Engineered Foods: Does Fairness Sell?' Her earlier degrees include an M.A. in Political Science from the American University in Cairo in 2008, with a thesis on 'Corporate Social Responsibility in Egypt: Case Studies of Hopes and Struggles,' Marketing Communications certification from the American University in Cairo in 2007, Project Management Professional certification in 2007, and a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, in 2005. Zahry joined the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as Assistant Professor in August 2018, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023, and holds the prestigious Guerry Professorship, which recognizes faculty with a national or international reputation in their discipline for a five-year term.

Her research specializations encompass health communication with a focus on healthy eating, risk and crisis communication in the context of food recalls, and science communication emphasizing scientists' representation using verbal and non-verbal communication. Key publications include 'Relationships among perceived stress, emotional eating, and health-promoting lifestyle behaviors among U.S. adults from 24 states during the COVID-19 pandemic' (2021, cited 135 times), 'Stress management interventions among college students: A systematic review and meta-analysis' (2021), 'Warmth portrayals to recruit students into science majors' (2021), 'Risk governance during the COVID-19 pandemic: A communication infrastructure perspective' (2023), and 'A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families' (2025). Zahry's scholarship has accumulated 694 citations on Google Scholar. Prior to her academic career at UTC, she served as instructor and research project manager at Michigan State University (2017-2018), quantitative research assistant there (2012-2017), Senior Project Manager for a USAID-funded Value Chain Education Reform Project in Egypt (2008-2012), and Senior Communication Officer for another USAID project (2007-2008). She teaches courses such as social media marketing, organizational communication, and strategic communication for non-profits, and has co-developed an 'AI for Everyone' class.