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| Nita Wallace, Ph.D., associate professor, has led the Department of Dental Hygiene for 30 years and has served as assistant dean for faculty and staff development since August 2007. | |
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By Rosanne FohnJuanita “Nita” Wallace, Ph.D., has been appointed interim dean of the School of Health Professions, effective Feb. 1.
Dr. Wallace has been a dental hygiene educator for more than 35 years and chair of the Department of Dental Hygiene for 30 years. Based on her excellent work and research while earning her doctoral degree that focused on organizational leadership and communication, Dr. Wallace was appointed to a new position as assistant dean for faculty and staff development in August 2007.
“Dr. Wallace is highly regarded by her colleagues in the School of Health Professions,” said President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, in announcing her appointment Jan. 24. “I very much appreciate Dr. Wallace agreeing to accept this important position during these challenging times.”
In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, Dr. Wallace is a nationally recognized consultant in competency‐based clinical teaching and evaluation, student‐centered learning, skill diagnosis and curriculum design. She led the development of the only annual workshop on clinical teaching for dental hygienists in the U.S. The UT System recognized her expertise by awarding Dr. Wallace and her colleagues a grant to develop a web‐based clinical education program for health care educators.
Dr. Wallace received her associate’s degree with honors in 1969 from St. Petersburg Junior College in St. Petersburg, Fla., and her bachelor’s degree in Dental Auxiliary Teaching Education
summa cum laude in 1975 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1982, she earned her master’s degree in higher education from The University of Texas at San Antonio and her Ph.D., in educational administration in 2001, from UT Austin.
She will succeed Douglas Murphy, Ph.D., who is leaving Jan. 31 to become dean of the College of Health Related Professions at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences.
