Ph.D. in Health Sciences gets new leadership

The NIU Ph.D. in Health Sciences program welcomes a new director who is a familiar face at the College of Health and Human Sciences.

Beverly Henry, formerly associate dean for the college, formally began leading the Ph.D. in Health Sciences program January 2020. However, Henry has always been affiliated with the program, serving as its interim director from 2014-2016, recruiting the first cohort in 2015.

“I am very excited to assume the full-time faculty role as director, interacting with students, academic advisors, and committee members,” Henry said.

Henry said her goals for the program are two-fold: continue building on the program’s success, and, expanding its role in the national landscape of interdisciplinary health sciences doctoral programs education.

“Our blended program is a model of interprofessional education that meets the needs of professionals who seek doctoral education to meet career goals, develop research skills, and work alongside individuals from many other disciplines,” Henry said.

School of Interdisciplinary Health Professions Chair Paul Priester said the doctoral program is extremely fortunate to have Henry at its helm.

“She embraces the interdisciplinary perspective that makes the program so unique. The students will benefit from her extensive experience in interdisciplinary health research,” Priester said.

Henry began an NIU in 2003 as a faculty member in the nutrition and dietetics program. She became an associate dean for the CHHS in 2013. Henry holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Loyola University, an M.S. in Nutrition and Medical Dietetics from the University of Illinois, and is an NIU alumna with a B.S. in Food Science.

NIU’s Ph.D. in Health Sciences emphasizes an interprofessional orientation to research and practice, seeking to educate a wide range of individuals to teach, conduct research and practice in an ever more complex interprofessional world.