The University has appointed former U.S. Senate Chief of Staff Charles Harman as Emory’s new vice president of government and community affairs.
Harman’s predecessor, John Engelen, was with the department since January of 2007.
The position remained vacant for a year and a half until Harman’s appointment in August.
Harman – an Atlanta native and Georgia State Terry College of Business alumnus – will lead lobbying efforts for Emory’s Department of Political and Community Affairs’ top three priorities: reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, academic health infrastructure funding and research funding, which has taken a hit after the sequestration cuts, the department’s Washington Representative Cameron Taylor said.
“Administrators, colleagues, physicians, politicians, research associates – you name it,” Taylor said. “They all comment on what a great catch [Harman] is for Emory.”
Harman is not new to working in the health care industry. As vice president of public affairs for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, Inc., Harman led the public affairs effort for a merger with WellPoint Health in 2001 and again with Anthem, Inc. in 2004.
“I’m very fortunate to have this background in both politics and health care,” Harman said. “Having worked for the federal government, I understand health reform, like Medicare and Medicaid. After working for Blue Cross, I understand the relationship between patients and physicians.”
In addition to a history of health policy, Harman has also worked on both sides of the aisle – for Democratic Georgia Senator Sam Nunn from 1987 to 1992 and for Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss from 2007 until his most recent job change.
Between 1992 and 1996, he served as president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce before joining Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Harman took a three-month leave of absence from Blue Cross to establish Democratic Senator Zell Miller’s Georgia and Capitol Hill offices after Miller’s predecessor, Republican Senator Paul Coverdell, died in 2000.
“With his experience on the Hill, with both parties, with Georgia and with the health care sector, he’s a tremendous asset for Emory,” Taylor said.
– By Lydia O’Neal
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
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