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Raczynski
Named Dean of UAMS College of Public Health 05-22-02
(Little Rock) Chancellor
I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., announced today the appointment of James M.
Raczynski, Ph.D., as the inaugural Dean of the College of Public
Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in
Little Rock. Dr.
Raczynski will join the UAMS faculty and direct the administration of
the university’s newest college. “I’m
pleased to welcome Dr. Raczynski to the UAMS academic community and to
Arkansas, and I look forward to working closely with him to advance
the educational, research, community health, and outreach programs of
the college,” Dr. Wilson said. “Thomas A. Bruce, M.D., Dean Pro
Tem of the college since July 2001, has moved this emerging college
forward, and I’m grateful to him for his pro-active leadership in
the interim. He has built a strong foundation for Dean Raczynski to
build upon for the future development of the college.” Dr.
Raczynski will become the sixth Dean on the campus and will serve on
the Chancellor’s Cabinet along with the Deans of the Colleges of
Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Health Related Professions, and the
Graduate School – and other officers in administration Dr.
Raczynski is currently Professor and Chief, Behavioral Medicine Unit,
Division of Preventive Medicine of the Department of Medicine within
the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
He is also Professor and Chairman of the Department of Health Behavior
within the School of Public Health at UAB and is the Director of the
UAB Center for Health Promotion. Dr.
Racyznski has specialized in research on prevention of heart disease
and hypertension among minority populations, while also studying
substance abuse treatments for pregnant women and homeless persons and
other public health problems. His
educational background includes a B.A. degree (cum laude) from
Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts (1972), a master’s
degree (M.S.) in clinical psychology (1978), and a doctoral degree
(Ph.D.) in clinical psychology with minors in behavioral medicine and
clinical neuropsychology from the Pennsylvania State University in
1980. The
chairman of the search committee formed to recruit candidates to this
leadership position, G. Richard Smith, M.D., Chairman of the
Department of Psychiatry within the UAMS College of Medicine, said,
“Dr. Raczynski is a distinguished senior scientist with an
outstanding record of funding for research and an impressive
background as a teacher and mentor. His years of experience and
service in a nearby state will be helpful and applicable to Arkansas
and the region.” The
College of Public Health at UAMS began as a health-care concept that
few fully understood in 1999, but it rapidly grew into a reality that
many now understand as the branch of medical science focused on the
community – versus individual – health conditions facing everyone.
The college was part of enabling legislation presented by Governor
Mike Huckabee and funded in 2001 by a portion of the Arkansas Tobacco
Settlement. The
UAMS College of Public Health enrolled its first students in January
2002, and its first class of students will graduate in May 2003. # # # PR
Contact: Content
Contact: 03/30/07 |
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