College’s inaugural dean, Gary Liguori, has left to pursue an opportunity at another university
The University of Rhode Island College of Health Sciences has appointed Deborah Riebe as interim dean of the College, replacing former Dean Gary Liguori. Riebe, an international leader in the development of physical activity interventions to improve health, previously served as associate dean of the College.
Riebe, a professor of kinesiology, focuses her research around the development of physical activity interventions for a variety of populations, including apparently healthy adults, older adults and individuals with common chronic diseases, including obesity. She regularly works with interdisciplinary teams focused on physical activity and exercise, nutrition, and behavior modification. She has received funding from the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health, and the Champlin Foundations to support her research.
Riebe is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and of the National Academy of Kinesiology. She is the current chair of the Exercise is Medicine Credentials Committee, and served as editor of ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 10th edition. In addition to her national service, Dr. Riebe also served regionally as President of the New England Chapter of ACSM.
“Deb brings an extensive and impeccable level of leadership, teaching, research and outreach experience to the position,” URI Provost Barbara Wolfe said in announcing Riebe’s appointment.
Riebe is expected to assume her new role Jan. 23, replacing inaugural Dean Liguori, who oversaw the creation of the College, helping multiple health disciplines merge into one cohesive health education institute, and continued to work toward its expansion, including its emphasis on creating a new neuroscience division. After more than six years at the helm of the College, Liguori has accepted a position as provost of the University of West Florida, where he began work Jan. 17.
From its beginnings just over six years ago, the University of Rhode Island College of Health Sciences has evolved into a flourishing interdisciplinary college that continues to expand its offerings and its footprint around the state. Its research capacity has grown while its clinical offerings continue to prepare future health care professionals to serve the health care community.
“From a career perspective, it was something I had aspired to for a long time, and this was just really good timing for my family,” said Liguori, who evolved from a professor to department head at the University of Tennessee at Chatanooga, to dean at URI. “The University of West Florida in particular fits my strengths. They have a solid budget, good enrollment, so the infrastructure is in a really good place. My experiences here are really going to translate well down there.”
Liguori is also leaving the URI College of Health Sciences in a good place with a solid foundation. He spent most of the first two years laying the College’s foundation, hiring the right people, and ensuring all the different departments knew what their value was to the College. For the last five years, the College has focused on expanding, hiring faculty members who can help it realize its mission, and adding new disciplines.
Chief among them is the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, which offers a bachelor’s degree with three major options, master’s and doctoral degrees, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in neuroscience. Its interdisciplinary approach provides neuroscience training with an emphasis on practical, hands-on laboratory experience and diverse research opportunities. Multiple faculty members from different departments in the College help provide the dynamic, interdisciplinary education. Psychology Professor Lisa Weyant is the director of the program, and Psycology Professor John Robinson is co-executive director of the now the director of URI’s George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience.
“Establishing a foothold in the neurosciences is one of our greatest accomplishments. It reflects on the whole College of Health Sciences,” Liguori said. ““I think we’ve laid a tremendous foundation for the college over the last six or seven years, and I think realistically, it’s a perfect time to transition leadership. A new president, new provost, new vision coming out of Green Hall, I feel really good about where I’m leaving the College and I’m excited to see where it goes. I think the foundation is perfectly aligned with what the president and provost want to do.”
Part of Liguori’s mission was to increase research output of the College. In his time, the College has hired multiple faculty members dedicated to researching new health innovations, across disciplinary aisles. This year alone, the College has added four professors in the neurosciences across three different departments. At the same time, Liguori has ensured the College hasn’t lost its focus on the clinical health training that makes an immediate impact on the health care community.
“We continue to have really strong clinical programs, and within that, really strong clinics,” Liguori said. “Our presence in the community providing clinical care is really strong and growing. We got terribly interrupted by COVID, but now we are continuing to expand.”
The latest expansion is into Pawtucket, where the College is moving some faculty and staff into a new facility called Independence Square Pawtucket. Couples & Family Therapy, audiology and speech pathology will all have a presence there, along with individual faculty doing research there.
“We will have full clinics up there, helping serve an underserved population,” Liguori said. “Even as the College becomes stronger in research, it’s important we don’t lose site that we have great capacity to provide clinical care, particularly to populations that are uninsured or underinsured. So going into Pawtucket will help us meet that mission. That’s really satisfying to our faculty and clinicians to be able to do that, and it’s a great opportunity for our students.”
Whomever ultimately takes the helm of the College, they will be working with a solid core from which to continue building.
“Trust the people here. They all know what they’re doing well; they’ve got a strong foundation, so continue to build on that,” Liguori said he would advise his successor. “It’s been part of our goal to get to that place where we’re hiring faculty based on the strengths that they bring, and they can be part of a bigger piece. That reflects that we’ve established ourselves to the point we can hire really great faculty. They’re going to have no problem meeting the goals and ambitions of President Parlange.”