Alhassan Named UMass Graduate School’s Associate Dean for Inclusion and Engagement
Her appointment will become effective January 1, 2023.
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Professor of Kinesiology Sofiya Alhassan has been named the UMass Amherst Graduate School’s new associate dean for inclusion and engagement, per an announcement from UMass Amherst Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Tricia Serio. Alhassan takes over for Wilmore Webley, who will serve as the inaugural senior vice provost for equity and inclusion on campus. The appointments will become effective Jan. 1, 2023.
Alhassan has served as the graduate program director of the Kinesiology Department since 2015, an ADVANCE Faculty Fellow, and a scholar for the Center for Research on Families. She received a bachelor of science degree from Stetson University with a concentration in exercise science and psychology. She then earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in exercise physiology from Auburn University. She completed her postdoctoral training in community-based intervention and pediatric obesity at Stanford University School of Medicine, and she joined the UMass faculty in 2007. Alhassan served on the board of trustees of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and is a member of several committees within the ACSM organization, and was previously a Leadership and Diversity Fellow. She serves as editor of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. She has and continues to mentor several students and faculty of color across the UMass campus.
Dean of the Graduate School Jacqueline Urla said, “We are very pleased to see the growth of more support for DEI in Academic Affairs and thrilled to welcome Professor Alhassan to the Graduate School as our new associate dean for inclusion and engagement. This office plays a central role in achieving the university’s mission to support the recruitment and retention of graduate students who are under-represented in their fields. Professor Webley had a transformational impact on OIE and we know Professor Alhassan will as well. An experienced graduate program director in kinesiology, she brings a passionate commitment to the mentoring of graduate students of color that will be of great value to our whole campus.”