Susan J. Elliott steps down as Dean of Applied Health Sciences

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Faculty of Applied Health Sciences dean Susan Elliott has announced that she will not be seeking reappointment for a second term and has chosen to step down from the position effective July 1, 2014.

Susan Elliott
A medical geographer and specialist in environment and health, Elliott joined Applied Health Sciences as dean in 2010. Under her leadership, the Faculty has experienced unprecedented growth including the hiring of 25 regular and 8 definite term faculty members, a new undergraduate program in health promotion, and new graduate programs in health informatics and health evaluation.

In addition to leading the development of the Faculty’s 2013-2018 strategic plan, Elliott successfully advocated for a new kinesiology research and innovation centre in the R+T Park, and laid the groundwork for a new AHS expansion building on main campus.

Jim Rush appointed as interim dean

James W.E. Rush
Professor James W.E. Rush takes on the position of interim dean for the period of 1 July 2014 – 30 June 2015.

Jim Rush joined the Faculty in 2000 and has served in a variety of administrative roles, including as chair of the Department of Kinesiology and twice serving as associate dean.

He earned his BSc and MSc degrees at the University of Guelph, and received his PhD from the State University of New York Health Sciences Center in Syracuse, New York. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and in the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research program focuses on vascular and skeletal muscle physiology, and from 2003-2013 he held the Canada Research Chair in Integrative Vascular Biology.

He has published nearly 60 referred journal articles as well as a number of refereed book chapters, and he has been invited to give dozens of presentations to a variety of audiences including at conferences, seminars and non-profit gatherings.