People & Dynamic Partnerships
Belong, Matter, Make a Difference. Every one of our faculty and staff deserves to work with a supervisor and a team that values their contribution to the college's mission and vision. To work with people who care for each other, value input and recognize their efforts. Ours is a truly statewide footprint. With three academic campuses and prestigious health systems, we are positioned to impact the health and well-being of communities across Ohio. As the pace of healthcare accelerates, collaboration is critical to ensure the continued success of our students, our college and our partners.
New research facility to be built
Planning work continued this year for the new translational research facility that was approved by the Ohio University Board of Trustees in October 2022. The new research building will create a collaborative ecosystem to support clinical and translational research by providing space to support the success and growth of human subject research, while including space for community health and basic research (including a new vivarium). The new facility is scheduled to be operational in the second half of 2026. OHF agreed to repurpose $4 million of their transformative $105 million gift to focus on the translational research facility to include Community Health Programs into the scope of the new building. OHF’s total commitment towards the building now stands at $16.2 million. As a result, HCOM will match a $4 million commitment for student scholarships, and this is budgeted in FY 27-30. The current capital project budget is $66,968,706.
Heritage Hall wins award
Heritage Hall, the $65 million academic home of our Athens campus that was opened in 2021, won an Outstanding Project Award in the Spring 2023 LEARNING BY DESIGN magazine Educational Facilities Design Awards.
Burke receives AOA Distinguished Service Award
Bill Burke, D.O. ('88), dean of Heritage College, Dublin, received the American Osteopathic Association Distinguished Service Award at the AOA House of Delegates meeting in July. The award recognizes contributions to the profession, including the advancement of the science and art of osteopathic medicine, education, philanthropy and other fields of public service.
Office of Inclusion programs
The Office of Inclusion organized and sponsored 37 programs, events and processing centers for students, staff and faculty during 2022-23. These included educational workshops, panel discussions , Inclusion Scholars presentations and more.
New Leadership Welcomed
Several new and familiar faces stepped into leadership positions at Heritage College in 2022-23. Including:
Tracy Shaub, D.O., OU-HCOM Athens Campus Dean
Jennifer Gwilym, D.O., Chair for the Department of Primary Care
Elizabeth Beverly, Ph.D., co-director of the Diabetes Institute
Vishwajeet Puri, Ph.D., co-director of the Diabetes Institute
Berkeley Franz, Ph.D., co-director of the Appalachian Institute to Advance Health Equity Sciences
Dawn Graham, Ph.D., co-director/developer of the Global Health South Africa Medicine Program
Kelly McCall, Ph.D., associate chair of the Department of Specialty Medicine
Pat O’Connor, Ph.D., assistant dean of research programs