Dr. Denise Seabert has been named the dean of the College of Health Human Services at Fresno State.
According to a press release, Sebeart’s academic background is in health education and teacher preparation. She had served as dean of the Usha Kundu, MD College of Health at the University of West Florida, since July 2018.
Seabert said to Fresno State News that under her leadership people felt connected in the college and with the work they were doing. She succeeds the previous dean, Dr. James Marshall, who was appointed as the interim dean in August 2019.
“I’m thrilled that Dean Denise Seabert will lead the College of Health and Human Services. I’m Dean Seabert is a visionary and experienced leader,” said Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Fresno State. “I’m confident that her passion for excellence will create great synergy within the college, and will in turn build strong bridges of collaboration and support with our community partners.”
Before working at University of West Florida, Seabert spent 15 years at Ball State University, serving in positions like associate dean for external affairs and community engagement, chair of the Department of Physiology and Health Science, director of the London Centre for the Rinker Center for International Programs and professor of health education.
Seabert hails from the state of Washington and earned her bachelor’s in school health education from Western Washington University. She earned her master’s in school and college health from Indiana University and her Ph.d. in health behavior with a minor in curriculum and instruction from the University of Florida.
“I believe my work helps me as a leader to help others think about teaching ”” how to improve their teaching, try new approaches,” Seabert said to Fresno State News. “I have a strong connection to evaluation and assessment, which is critical. Those are strengths I can use to help build capacity in our college, to help faculty grow their teaching skills especially during these challenging times.”