Nancy Berryman Reese was named the new dean of the at the University of Central Arkansas’ College of Health & Behavioral Sciences, which encompasses undergraduate and graduate programs in nine departments and schools. She will also join a team of academic deans that will implement strategies to support and enhance UCA’s mission.
Reese will begin the position on July 1 and will report to Patricia S. Poulter, executive vice president and provost. “I look forward to the leadership and vision Dr. Reese will provide to the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences in her role as dean, and am certain our students, faculty and staff will continue to flourish under her guidance,” Poulter said in a press release.
Reese began working at UCA in 1986 as an instructor and academic coordinator for clinical education. She became an assistant professor in 1991, was tenured in 1994 and served as an associate professor, then professor, from 1995 to 2004. Reese has served as chair of the Department of Physical Therapy since 2004, where she directs the doctor of physical therapy and doctor of philosophy in physical therapy programs and manages program planning, assessment and accreditation. She was the first in Arkansas to be named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association and today is one of only two in Arkansas and 250 in the nation. Reese is also a graduate of the Harvard Leadership Program.
Before her career at UCA, Reese worked as a physical therapist at Arkansas Rehabilitation Institute in Little Rock and at Conway Physical Therapy Clinic/Conway Human Development Center. She completed an administrative residency at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Reese earned a Bachelor of Science in physical therapy from UCA, a master’s in health services administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a doctorate in anatomy from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Kristen Sterba, associate provost for students and administration and director for institutional research, policy and accreditation in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Division of Academic Affairs, was recently elected vice president of the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management.
Additionally, Sterba was presented with the Distinguished Service Award from NAGAP (formerly the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals), which is the organization’s most prestigious award. It is presented annually to an individual who has contributed progressive leadership and exceptional service to the association and the profession.
Rhonda Parris, administrative associate at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, has received the Support Staff Excellence Award.
Mohammad Bataineh, associate professor of forest health, received the Faculty Excellence in Research Award, and Rocky Lindsey, assistant professor of animal science, received the Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award.
Dustyn Bork has been promoted to professor of art at Lyon College in Batesville. He previously was an associate professor of art.
Gary Geissler, Anindya Ghosh and David Briscoe, professors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, are the 2020 winners of the Faculty Excellence Awards.
Geissler, professor of marketing and advertising, is the recipient of the $10,000 Bailey Teaching Award.
Ghosh, professor of chemistry, was named winner of the UMR Faculty Excellence in Research & Creative Endeavors, a $5,000 prize co-sponsored by UMR, the university’s third-party insurance administrator.
Briscoe received the $5,000 Faculty Excellence in Public Service Award.
See more of this week’s Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.
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