The University of Vermont has filled a number of key academic and administrative positions, including dean and interim dean vacancies.
Patricia Prelock, professor of communication sciences and chair of the Department of Communication Sciences, has been appointed dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, succeeding Betty Rambur. Prelock is a training director for Vermont's Interdisciplinary Leadership Education for Health Professionals Program and project director for Vermont's State Improvement Grant Speech-Language Pathologist Initiative.
Prelock’s research interests include alternative models of service delivery and supervision, the nature and treatment of autism, and the influences of complexity and processing mode on children's linguistic productions. She has served as associate editor for Language Speech Hearing Services in Schools, was named an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association fellow (2000), and is vice president for standards and ethics in speech-language pathology, a board of directors position for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Prelock is Chair of Vermont’s statewide Autism Task Force and is a member of the workgroup for the Autism Training Program through the Higher Education Collaborative. Prelock has 101 publications and 350 peer-reviewed and invited presentations in the areas of autism, collaboration, language assessment and intervention, and phonology.
Prelock received the 1998 Friends Award through the Vermont Parent Information Center, UVM's Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award (2000), and the first annual Autism Society of Vermont Excellence in Service Award (2000). She was University Scholar in 2003. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kent State University and her doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
Bernard "Chip" Cole, professor of statistics and statistics program director, has been appointed interim dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, succeeding Domenico Grasso (who was recently appointed vice president for research and dean of the Graduate College). Cole joined the UVM faculty in 2007 from Dartmouth College, where he was professor of community and family medicine (biostatistics) in the Dartmouth Medical School and served as the director of biostatistics shared resource in the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Boston University. His areas of expertise include cancer biostatistics, longitudinal data analysis, clinical trials, and chemoprevention studies.
John N. Evans has been appointed senior advisor to the president and will be working with the vice president for research to identify and capture commercialization opportunities for faculty, student, and staff inventions and innovation and to build a network of UVM alumni and friends who can be advisors and/or partners in UVM’s commercialization efforts. He will also be working with the vice presidents for research and for development and alumni relations to enhance UVM’s corporate and foundation relations with a view toward enlarging opportunities for commercialization of research and for mission-appropriate contributions to the economic vitality of the State of Vermont. Evans holds an appointment as professor of molecular physiology and biophysics in the College of Medicine and has held numerous leadership positions at the University of Vermont, including dean of the College of Medicine.
Brian Reed, associate dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and currently interim dean of that College and associate professor of physical therapy, has been appointed associate provost for curricular affairs. Reed joined the UVM faculty in 1982 and received his doctorate from Temple University and bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees from the University of Vermont. Reed also served as acting dean of the College in 2007-2008. Reed’s responsibilities will be wide-ranging in the Office of the Provost, but a primary focus will be working on behalf of the provost with the Faculty Senate on curricular initiatives, including general education, academic program review, and cross-college programming in health and environmental sciences.
Kerry Castano joins the Office of the Provost as chief of staff. Castano has held several positions at the University of Vermont, including assistant dean for administration in the College of Arts and Sciences. She will be providing high-level administrative and operational oversight in support of the interim provost.
