Timothy Ford, Ph.D., has been named Shenandoah University’s dean of the School of Health Professions. In this newly created position, Dr. Ford will oversee the divisions of Athletic Training, Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant Studies, Physical Therapy and Respiratory Care. He will begin his new position on July 1, 2014.
“It is with great pleasure we welcome Dr. Ford to Shenandoah University,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs Adrienne Bloss, Ph.D. “His extensive leadership experience and his commitment to inter-professional education and community partnerships made for a unanimous recommendation by the search committee. His appointment is very strongly supported by the campus community as well.”
“I am thrilled and deeply honored to have been selected as dean of the School of Health Professions at Shenandoah University,” said Ford. “With the dramatic changes in our health care system, and the critical need to control the ever-rising cost of health care, this could not be a better time to work with these invaluable professions to help shape the next generation of providers.”
“The future is inter-professional education that trains our students to become partners in team-based health care, helps them to recognize the critical role that disease and injury prevention programs play in the future of affordable care, and the importance of embracing a population, or public health-based perspective,” said Ford.
Ford comes to Shenandoah from the University of New England (UNE), where he has served as interim dean of the Westbrook College of Health Professions (WCHP), dean of graduate studies and public health, and vice president for research and dean of graduate studies. Ford held prior positions at Montana State University and at the Harvard School of Public Health.
At Harvard, he both founded and directed the program in water and health, and at Montana State University, he served as principal investigator on the Montana IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence program — designed to build research and training infrastructure throughout the state in environmental health and infectious disease.
“There are many reasons for coming to Shenandoah University, but the best motivation is to work with a strong and dedicated team to provide an education in the health professions that is second to none – and one that we can ensure will lead to enriching and fulfilling careers for the future generation of health professionals. My role as dean is to create an environment within which great ideas can happen. There is much to explore, and I welcome this opportunity.”
In his various roles at UNE, Ford accomplished much, hiring new program directors and faculty and overseeing two significant renovations for the WCHP – a dental hygiene clinic and a human performance laboratory.
As dean of graduate studies and public health, he oversaw the completion of feasibility studies for a Ph.D. program in marine sciences and a school of public health, including Council on Education for Public Health accreditation for the online Master’s degree in Public Health.
In his role as vice president for research, he established four centers of excellence in research and scholarship, in marine sciences, the neurosciences, public health and the humanities. He also made great strides in attracting funding from federal and state sources for both research and infrastructure, overseeing an increase in annual awards from $2 million to more than $12 million.
Ford earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Sussex University (U.K.) and a doctoral degree in aquatic microbiology from the University of Wales, Bangor (U.K.). He completed his postdoctoral training in environmental microbiology at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Shenandoah University is the private, nationally recognized applied liberal arts institution, located in Winchester, Va., with an enrollment of more than 4,000 students. Shenandoah’s close-knit community is rich in creative energy and intellectual challenge. Shenandoah empowers its students to help the human condition and to be principled professionals and leaders wherever they go. For more information, visit www.su.edu.
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