Health professions dean to step down

Tom Masterson, dean of The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions at Central Michigan University, has announced plans to step down from his role this summer. Masterson said he will serve as dean through June 30, then plans to return to a faculty role in the spring semester of 2025 after a brief transitional leave.

“It has been an honor to serve as dean and to support and encourage the work of my incredible faculty colleagues and our exceptional students,” Masterson said. “I look forward to returning to the classroom and continuing this work alongside them.”

During his tenure as dean, Masterson led the college through several periods of growth and expansion, both physically and programmatically. Some of those achievements include:

• Launch of the Interprofessional Education and Practice Center, part of the $26 million, two-story Center for Integrated Health Studies expansion of the Health Professions Building.
• Expansion of nursing programs at CMU, including the online RN-to-BSN program, the Joint Nursing Education Program, and the recently announced four-year nursing program.
• Increase in research output and funding among health professions faculty. 
• Accreditation and growth of CMU’s public health programs.
• Recently announced cohort expansion in the physician assistant program.

“I have always seen my role as dean as a way to enable and empower the work of others,” he said. “I am incredibly proud of the faculty in this college, who are truly leaders and experts in their fields of study. It was a privilege to facilitate their teaching, research and service.”

Masterson said faculty and students in the health professions programs are highly engaged in service to the regional community. He noted work by faculty and students through initiatives such as Mobile Health Central, MOVE! for Health, the CARLS Center for Clinical Care and Education, and others.

“Employers want to hire our graduates because they know our students come out of CMU equipped with more than knowledge; they come with extensive experience from hands-on learning,” he said.

Masterson joined the CMU community in May 1999 as an assistant professor of anatomy in the School of Health Sciences. After achieving associate professor and professor status, Masterson became division director for exercise science in 2004 and then chair of the School of Health Sciences in 2004.

He served as interim dean of the college from September 2007 until June 2009, when he became associate dean. After serving again as interim dean from 2015-2016, Masterson became dean in March 2016 — a role he will continue through the end of this fiscal year.

“Dean Masterson has led the College of Health Professions with humility and grace for nearly 11 years,” said CMU Provost Nancy Mathews. “His advocacy for faculty and student success, in addition to advancing rural health care, has positioned the college well for future growth that complements the expansion of the College of Medicine.”

Mathews has appointed Greg Zimmerman, currently the associate dean of the college, to serve as interim dean beginning July 1. Mathews said the university will begin a search for the next leader of the health professions college this fall.