The American Marketing Association has selected Sundar Bharadwaj, who serves as the Coca-Cola Company Chair of Marketing, for its newest class of AMA Fellows. Bharadwaj, who joined the University of Georgia faculty in 2011, is the first Terry College of Business faculty member to be chosen for this lifetime achievement.
Sundar is well-deserving of this prestigious recognition,” said Dean Ben Ayers. “His research into brand management and marketing strategy and their effect on financial performance has been highly influential within the discipline.”
The AMA’s Fellows program honors those who have made a significant contribution to marketing research, theory, and practice over a prolonged period of time. The AMA Fellow designation is intended to recognize marketing academics’ achievement and create a space for fellowship, discussion, collaboration, and continued contributions to the discipline.
The AMA has selected about 50 fellows since the program was established a decade ago. Bharadwaj will be one of five fellows recognized as part of the AMA’s 2025 Winter Academic Conference in Phoenix in February.
Bharadwaj’s research on marketing capabilities and investments explores their impact on firm risks, returns, sustainability, societal outcomes, and the integration of AI in marketing across U.S. and global markets. He has published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Management Science, and Harvard Business Review, among others. His research has received several journal and conference awards from the AMA, the Academy of Marketing Science and the Product Development and Management Association.
In recent years, he has become a thought leader on corporate social responsibility and brand reputation. His co-authored essays on prosocial branding and a novel framework to guide marketing transformations across industries have been featured in Harvard Business Review.
His forthcoming book, Good Growth, highlights how brands succeed through social impact.
Bharadwaj has served as a chair or committee member for more than 30 doctoral students and teaches marketing courses in the Terry College’s MBA, Executive MBA and doctoral programs. He is a past co-chair of the AMA and Informs Marketing Science Conferences and has served on the Academic Council of the American Marketing Association.
Before entering academia, he worked in brand and sales management roles at multinational corporations, where he crafted innovative branding and channel strategies.