Years ago, when Professor Moonhee Cho decided to pursue a master’s degree to boost her career as a fundraiser and public relations professional, she didn’t know she would fall in love with academia, get a PhD, and change careers. However, her desire to explore the motivations behind donor behaviors and the opportunity to educate future professionals led her to take that route.
Changing her career path has led to an unexpected but thrilling moment for Cho as she is now set to become the next director of the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations starting in February 2026. Cho will be leading the Tombras School during an exciting time on the heels of the school’s recent announcement that it will officially launch a student-run agency in spring 2026 thanks to a 2022 gift from the Tombras agency.
“As DeForrest Jackson Professor and CCI’s director of college-wide graduate programs, Moonhee has been a thoughtful leader, a dedicated mentor, and an innovative educator who champions experiential and community-engaged learning. Her research accomplishments and her deep commitment to student and faculty success make her ideally suited to lead the Tombras School into its next exciting chapter,” said College of Communication and Information Dean Joe Mazer, who holds the Faye Julian Dean Chair.
Cho joined the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations as an assistant professor in fall 2014, a move that deepened her commitment to academic research and teaching. During this time, she gained a reputation as a top public relations scholar, taught hundreds of students in applied and community-engaged courses, all while serving the school, university, and the field.
In her recent work as director of CCI’s college-wide graduate programs, Cho has found great fulfillment in the possibility of having a greater impact on students, faculty, and the professional community. She said engaging in service work at multiple levels has given her an in-depth perspective on how to be detail-oriented while keeping an eye on big-picture goals.
While it wasn’t the original career path she chose, becoming director of the Tombras School will draw on skills she developed in her earlier career working as a fundraiser and public relations manager for the nonprofit arm of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. In that position, Cho collaborated with multinational corporations to build community engagement projects, managed relationships with multiple stakeholders, including donors, beneficiaries, community members, and media, and oversaw interns—all tasks similar to what she’ll undertake as a director.
“I always wanted to be more people-involved and people-oriented, so it was natural that I wanted to go to nonprofits to help people, and it was a unique opportunity,” she said. “But I never imagined my entire life would be in education.”
Working as an academic in higher education has afforded Cho plentiful opportunities to continue being people oriented. The service section of her curriculum vitae is packed with leadership roles, graduate student mentorship, and professional service for organizations such as the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
CCI’s current strategic plan outlines three pillars Cho said she’ll use to shape the student and faculty experience at the Tombras School, which are:
- Deliver a best-in-class communication and information student experience
- Significantly increase the national and international impact and visibility of research and creative activity
- Transform communities through research, teaching, and service.
“The students’ experience really matters, and I’m happy to dive in with multiple ways to enrich their experience during this time and see how we can make an impact on their lives by giving them more hands-on experience opportunities,” Cho said, adding that the school’s new student-run agency is just one way she will help guide the school in meeting the goals of the first pillar.
Supporting faculty is another facet of the job that Cho is looking forward to taking on, especially as the Tombras School has such a large faculty with varied research interests and creative pursuits. The school has grown exponentially in recent years—a stark contrast to when Cho was one of the two junior faculty members and the only international faculty member at the school when she first came to CCI. She champions the growth of the school and college and looks forward to ensuring all Tombras School faculty receive the support, mentorship, and funding they need to flourish as they pursue the work they do as a contribution to their field of study.
As for the third pillar that aligns with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s land-grant mission of serving Tennessee, Cho is excited to continue building on the solid foundation of community engagement projects Tombras School faculty and staff have developed over the years.
Cho said the Tombras School faculty and staff are “champions of community at many levels” and have created many avenues for students and faculty to contribute their talents to community organizations, such as the campaign course in which students create real deliverables for local nonprofits and businesses. Cho said work such as this can be expanded upon once the student-run agency gets off the ground and running.
While it is still in its early days, building the student-run agency is a focus for Cho as it will provide a wealth of opportunities that hit all three strategic plan pillars. She said the school has a unique advantage in the relationship it has with its namesake, the Tombras agency headquartered in Knoxville. This relationship will be crucial as students can apply real-life perspectives and advice from professionals at Tombras to the work they’ll do in the student-run agency.
“We have really big ideas about moving it up to the next level and we’re really grateful to have a big agency here to come as guest speakers and let our students tour the Tombras agency to learn about the behind the scenes of the agency,” she said.