Ritchie Taylor has been appointed the interim associate dean of the College of Health and Human Services effective July 1, according to WKU News.
His roles will include leading research activities in CHHS and oversight of all activities related to faculty development. Taylor has been a faculty member of CHHS since the college was created in 2002 and has served as the Faculty Fellow of Research since 2021.
“Under his leadership as Faculty Fellow for Research, CHHS external funding has doubled, the Institute for Rural Health was reactivated, a pathway for external research mentorship was established, and he played a key role in developing the Community Health Sciences Complex to house the CHHS Applied Research Centers and promote research innovation,” said Tania Basta, Dean of CHHS.
According to University Spokesperson Jace Lux, the position had been vacant since Vijay Golla left the university in 2019. The funding for the position then went towards faculty fellow positions in the CHHS dean’s office and the position became available again after the most recent fellow left in June.
Taylor received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Belmont University, a master’s degree in biology from Tennessee Technological University and a Ph.D in Environmental Science from North Texas University.
Taylor has served as the program director of bachelor and master degree programs in environmental and occupational health science. He also founded the Center for Environmental and Workplace Health in CHHS in 2017 and was the Director of the Center for Water Resource Studies in the WKU Ogden College of Science and Engineering.
“Students are the focus of all we endeavor to accomplish in CHHS,” Taylor said. “Over the past four years, we have worked to build a community of scholarship and research that engages our students in applied community-based research to meet health and human services needs throughout Kentucky and our region.”
According to WKU News, his research interests include firefighter occupational safety and health, environmental health, environmental compliance and stormwater management, workplace health promotion, and emergency management and preparedness.
He is currently the principal investigator on a training program grant through the Centers of Disease Control and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Kentucky Emergency Management.
“The applied research conducted by faculty and staff in CHHS informs our teaching and service, thereby enhancing the student experience,” Taylor said. “A culture of scholarship and research has developed in CHHS, and this will continue to grow.”
