Tonya Edmond, professor and associate dean for social work and social policy, and聽Rodrigo Reis, professor and associate dean for public health, have been appointed to serve as interim co-deans of the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, Provost Beverly Wendland announced. Their appointments begin Jan. 1.
Edmond and Reis will succeed聽Mary McKay, the Neidorff Family and Centene Corporation Dean of the Brown School, who has been聽聽vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives in the Office of the Provost. McKay will continue to serve as dean through Dec. 31 and begin her new position Jan. 1. The university will initiate an international search for McKay鈥檚 permanent successor in fall 2022.
鈥淚鈥檓 thankful to Tonya and Rodrigo for assuming these leadership roles,鈥� Wendland said. 鈥淭he appointment of interim co-deans acts to represent the outstanding interdisciplinary educational and research programs of the Brown School. They are experienced leaders and will demonstrate great commitment and skill during this time of transition. I鈥檓 confident it will be a seamless process and that they will lead the Brown School in the right direction as we search for a new dean.鈥�
鈥淩odrigo and Tonya are excellent choices to serve as interim co-deans,鈥� McKay said. 鈥淭hey have both been instrumental in shaping the school鈥檚 vision and the newly released 10-year strategic plan, 鈥楧riving Equity 2030.鈥� I have no doubt the school is in great hands under their leadership.鈥�
Edmond has been a faculty fellow in the Office of the Provost, working on women faculty leadership development and other diversity and inclusion initiatives. She also currently serves as co-director of the聽. Edmond鈥檚 research focuses on testing the effectiveness of interventions for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking and intimate partner violence. She is committed to strengthening services for survivors through research and teaching to advance the development of trauma-informed systems of care and the implementation of evidence-based trauma treatments.
She is currently the principal investigator of a Department of Justice-funded study testing the effectiveness of a learning collaborative as an implementation strategy to enhance the uptake of cognitive processing therapy in rape crisis centers. She also teaches 鈥淚ntervention Approaches with Women鈥� and 鈥淐ore Concepts in Trauma Treatment with Children & Adolescents.鈥�
Reis is an investigator at the聽聽and his research focuses on the built and community environment and public health, with particular interest in community interventions for promoting physical activity, as well as the effect of the built environment and active transportation on health and well-being.
At the Brown School, Reis teaches courses focusing on the built environment and public health and is the chair of the urban design specialization in the Master of Public Health program.
Prior to joining the Brown School, Reis was on the faculty at Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, as well as the Federal University of Parana in Curitiba, Brazil. He has played an important role in international projects, such as Project GUIA (Guide for Community in Latin America); the International Physical Activity and Environment Network; the Design to Move initiative; and Centers for Disease Control physical activity courses in Latin America.
He has published extensively in leading peer-reviewed journals and is also part of The Lancet Physical Activity Series published in 2012, 2016 and 2021 and The Lancet Urban Design, Transport, and Health Series published in 2016.