Welcome everyone to August and the imminent beginning of the Fall Semester 2022! There have been many changes afoot in the Department of Health & Behavioral Sciences (HBS) and I wanted to take this opportunity to detail them for you. First, let me begin by introducing myself, Dr. David Tracer, your new Chair of the Department. Although I began on August 1 as Chair of HBS, I am no stranger to the Department. I arrived at CU Denver and HBS in the Fall of 1998 from the University of Washington as the very first externally hired Chair of the Department and served in that capacity for 5 years. I was subsequently Chair of HBS once again from 2013-2016. I was also one of the founders of the Undergraduate BA/BS in Public Health and served as the first Director of Undergraduate Studies from 2010-2012. In short, HBS, its programs, and its people (students, faculty and staff) are dear to me and when I was asked last academic year if I would assume the Chair position, it was not a hard decision to leave my CLAS Associate Dean position and once again return to the department. I want to wholeheartedly thank Dr. Sara Yeatman for her last 3 years of service as Chair of the Department, a period that was full of challenges, not least of which was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope you will also join me in thanking Drs. Meng Li and Patrick Krueger for their tireless work and dedication to the roles of Director of Undergraduate Studies and Director of Graduate Studies, respectively. Our new Director of Undergraduate Studies is Dr. Hyeyoung Oh Nelson and Director of Graduate Studies is Dr. jimi adams. I know that they are absolutely committed to our department’s educational, research, service and diversity, equity and inclusion missions. I wish everyone success in the coming academic year and please don’t hesitate to stop by my office and say hello!
