Darryl B. Hood to extend his work as Dean’s Fellow for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence
Abigail Norris Turner and Darryl B. Hood
Abigail Norris Turner will serve as the new College of Public Health Associate Dean of Faculty and Inclusive Excellence, Dean Amy Fairchild announced in an email to the CPH community this week.
Norris Turner is currently a professor of internal medicine in Ohio State’s College of Medicine, is courtesy faculty in the Division of Epidemiology and a frequent collaborator with many college researchers. Norris Turner’s depth of experience in leadership, in the classroom, as an active research scientist, and in advocacy, position her well to support and bolster professional growth for faculty throughout the college.
In her application for the role, Norris Turner told CPH leaders she will “work in partnership with faculty, staff, college and university leaders to define inclusive excellence in our setting, and to develop engaging, responsive programming for faculty at all career stages to maximize their success in the domains of teaching, scholarship and service.”
Norris Turner has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to equity and inclusivity across all categories of gender, race, ethnicity, age, ability, sexuality, rank, and other intersectional identities, calling it “the right and ethical path.” She shared a strong vision for integrating DEIE into all our pursuits at the college with an emphasis on faculty development.
Her experience in this space includes developing and teaching a course on the prevalence, causes, and effects of key social determinants of health, with a goal to understand and mitigate health disparities. As a scholar centrally concerned with sexual and reproductive health, for two decades Norris Turner’s research has focused on health inequities experienced by members of the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, and other individuals who bear disproportionate adverse health burdens. Through service with her professional association, she has developed programs to diversify the next generation of reproductive health scholars, prioritizing support for and development of trainees from underrepresented backgrounds.
Additionally, Darryl B. Hood, professor of environmental health sciences, has agreed to extend his work as Dean’s Fellow for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence. Hood has been a phenomenal leader in this area. He will continue in this post for two years. In this role, he will work in partnership with Norris Turner to support faculty growth and leadership on DEIE efforts. Part of his charge in this role will be to support other faculty who seek to step into this role after Hood’s term commences. In this way, we will deepen knowledge and leadership in the domain of inclusive excellence and enrich our college’s investment in advancing our work in this space.
