Published April 14, 2014 This content is archived.
To: University Community
From: Charles F. Zukoski
Provost and Executive Vice President
for Academic Affairs
Michael E. Cain
Vice President for Health Sciences and
Dean, School of Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences
Date: April 14, 2014
Re: Dean Lynn T. Kozlowski
We are writing to share with you that Dean Lynn Kozlowski has informed us of his intention to step down as dean of the School of Public Health and Health Professions, effective at the end of the current academic year, in order to resume his faculty role as a Professor of Community Health and Health Behavior. A dedicated dean, Lynn has advanced each of UB’s teaching, research, and especially engagement missions and has left the school well-poised to build on this success for years to come. Lynn will step down on June 30, 2014. An interim dean will be appointed while the university conducts an international search for the next dean of the school.
Lynn became the second dean of the School of Public Health and Health Professions in 2008, after serving as interim dean since 2007. His six and a half years of leadership have truly strengthened the school and its impact.
Under Lynn’s leadership, the School of Public Health and Health Professions has worked to advance the assessment of teaching effectiveness and its role in faculty evaluation. The school has also been at the forefront of interprofessional education involving schools of public health and health related professions. During Lynn’s tenure, the school has added faculty and expanded enrollments.
Lynn has been especially successful in advancing UB’s and the School of Public Health and Health Professions’ community engagement missions. During his time as dean, he created the Dean’s Community Advisory Council, which coordinates activities in the community, and the Office of Public Health Practice, which serves as a gateway between the school and area public health organizations. Outreach arising from the Office of Public Health Practice contributed to the establishment of the Academic Health Center agreement with the U.S. Indian Health Service. During Lynn’s tenure, the School of Public Health and Health Professions also created the Office of Global Health Initiatives, which identifies and coordinates global health opportunities for education, research, and engagement. Lynn has been a strong proponent of using online education, social media, and other technologies in advancing educational outreach for students.
One of Lynn’s most significant accomplishments as dean was leading the effort that earned the school full accreditation in 2009 from the Council on Education for Public Health. Accreditation through the Council on Education for Public Health puts the School of Public Health and Health Professions, which was established in 2003, among an elite group of public health schools.
An international leader in the field of tobacco use and addiction, Lynn was recruited from the College of Health and Human Development at Pennsylvania State University to join UB as professor and founding chair of the Department of Health Behavior (now Community Health and Health Behavior) in 2006. He has authored more than 150 articles, book chapters, and reviews, and has been continuously funded as a researcher while serving as dean.
Lynn’s accomplishments during his tenure as dean have advanced UB’s mission both in the school as well as in the broader communities we serve. Colleagues, please join us in thanking Lynn for his dedicated service and in wishing him much continued success as he prepares to bring his extensive skillset to advance the teaching and scholarly missions in Public Health.