News

Jennifer L. Frum, vice president for public service and outreach at the University of Georgia, has announced she will retire Dec. 1 after a 30-year career at UGA.

Frum has led UGA’s expansive public service and outreach enterprise since 2011, initially as interim vice president, before being named to the role permanently in July 2012. She is the first woman to serve in the position.

UGA Public Service and Outreach (PSO) achieved national preeminence under Frum’s leadership, with a portfolio of award-winning programs that reach every corner of the state. During her tenure, PSO raised more than $50 million in private funds and $230 million in sponsored programs to support outreach programs and facilities.

“UGA has always set the standard in public service and outreach, and Vice President Frum successfully built on this reputation while skillfully helping us integrate public service and outreach into our teaching and research missions,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “Having appointed her as vice president while I served as provost, I could not be happier with the extraordinary leadership she has provided. She has had a tremendously positive impact on this institution and this state, and she will be missed.”

UGA Public Service and Outreach enhances quality of life in Georgia by applying the knowledge of the university to the state’s evolving economic, social and community needs. PSO faculty and staff provide expertise, training and research assistance to foster small businesses, expand economic development opportunities, preserve natural resources, make government more efficient, provide students with hands-on learning and more.

Frum leads this work through eight diverse PSO units: the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, Center for Continuing Education and Hotel, Archway Partnership, State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, Small Business Development Center, and the Office of Service-Learning, which is comanaged with the UGA Office of Instruction.

On Frum’s watch, PSO’s impact on Georgia’s economic vitality has continued to grow. She championed the opening of the Atlanta Economic Development Office, which is comanaged with the UGA Office of Research, and brought economic development support to rural areas through strategic faculty appointments based in South Georgia. PSO generated an economic impact of $753 million on the state in fiscal year 2023.

Additionally, Frum has expanded opportunities for UGA students to gain workforce experience, grow in civic engagement and make an impact through experiential learning. Last year, over 12,000 UGA students engaged in experiential learning through service-learning and public service and outreach.

Under Frum’s leadership, the university has been consistently recognized as a national leader for its work in public service and outreach. PSO received the University Economic Development Association National Award of Excellence in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023. UGA was recertified as a national Carnegie Community Engaged Institution in 2020 and received the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ (APLU) Innovation and Economic Prosperity University designation. In 2022, UGA received APLU’s highest national award for public service for the Archway Partnership, an outreach program through which participating rural communities have access to the resources and expertise of the university.

“It has been an honor to serve the University of Georgia and the state for 30 years,” said Frum. “My greatest achievement has been hiring outstanding leaders in public service and outreach. It has been the highlight of my career to work alongside these high-achieving, dedicated PSO team members who care so much about UGA and the people of Georgia.”

Frum’s career at UGA began in 1995 as a research professional in the Office of International Development. She joined the Carl Vinson Institute of Government in 2006 and later served as the institute’s deputy director and interim director. She was appointed interim president of Armstrong State University in 2017 during the university’s leadership transition.

Throughout her career, Frum has served in leadership positions on several local, state and national committees and teams, including on the boards of the Georgia Academy for Economic Development, the Athens Area Community Foundation, and Georgia Women of Achievement. In 2016, she cofounded the National Forum, a group of university-based senior engagement officers from around the country focused on networking and sharing best practices in the field. Additionally, she has served on the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Council on Engagement and Outreach and the National Engaged Scholars Consortium Board of Directors.

Frum was named one of Georgia Trend’s 2012 “Power Women” in Georgia and one of the magazine’s 100 most influential Georgians in 2016 and 2017. Georgia Trend named her to its list of 500 most influential leaders in 2022 and 2023. She received the Jeannette Rankin Foundation Smart Women Award in 2018 and the University of Georgia Blue Key Service Award in 2022.

“Dr. Frum has been a visionary leader during her tenure with UGA Public Service and Outreach,” said S. Jack Hu, the university’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “I had the pleasure of working closely with her in developing several impactful initiatives, including our Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty and the Connected Resilient Communities designation. These programs, along with many other PSO initiatives, have expanded UGA’s outreach and engagement across the state.”

Hu appointed Matthew L. Bishop to serve as interim vice president for public service and outreach upon Frum’s retirement.

Bishop currently serves as an associate vice president in PSO. He works directly with Frum on strategic initiatives, including programs and initiatives that connect UGA’s schools and colleges to PSO’s extensive network of expertise in leadership, government, business, service and nonprofits. He also oversees several PSO programs related to faculty promotions, faculty fellowships and graduate student assistantships.

Prior to being appointed as associate vice president, Bishop served as director of the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development. During his tenure, the institute updated its adult and youth leadership curricula and launched several new programs such as Youth LEAD Georgia, a statewide youth leadership program; the Embark Georgia network, which supports educational outcomes for young people who have experienced foster care or homelessness; and the Innovations in Community Leadership Initiative, which provides resources for community leadership programming in Georgia.

Bishop’s UGA career also includes serving as a faculty member in the Fanning Institute and Carl Vinson Institute of Government and as principal investigator for UGA’s Initiative on Poverty and the Economy. Before joining UGA, he served as associate director of the Governor’s Rural Development Council and as a regional resource coordinator for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Bishop earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Presbyterian College. He received both a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in public administration from UGA.

A search committee for a permanent vice president for public service and outreach will be announced at a later date.