Rate My Professor Sahara Byrne

Sahara Byrne serves as Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Denver, a role she assumed in July 2025, and holds the position of Professor of Communication Studies. Her research focuses on message disruption processes and the theoretical construct of “noise,” examining why well-intentioned strategic messages, particularly those targeting children and adolescents, sometimes produce the opposite of their intended effects. This includes analysis of the “boomerang effect” in response to pro-social and policy-driven messages such as government health campaigns, as well as deliberate efforts to mitigate negative media impacts on youth. Byrne takes a developmental approach grounded in media psychology and cognitive development.

Byrne earned a B.F.A. in Film and Television Production from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1993, an M.A. in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2004, and a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2007. Prior to joining the University of Denver, she held faculty and administrative positions at Cornell University, including Senior Associate Dean at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her honors include the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2013, the Donald C. Burgett Distinguished Advisor Award in 2017, the Carpenter Advising Award in 2016, the Innovative Teaching Award in 2012, multiple Merrill Presidential Scholar Teaching Impact recognitions, the K. Kyoon Hur Dissertation Award in 2009, and the Outstanding Dissertation of the Year award from the International Communication Association in 2008.