To: HSC Faculty, Staff and Students
From: Charles Taylor, Provost and EVP
Date: July 29, 2022
Re: HSC School of Public Health – Dean Search
I’m pleased to announce Dr. Shafik Dharamsi will join The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth as our Dean of the School of Public Health, effective August 15, 2022. With more than 25 years of transdisciplinary and international teaching, research and leadership experience, Dr. Dharamsi received profound enthusiasm and endorsements across campus during our national search process.
I am grateful to Dr. Dennis Thombs for his transformative leadership throughout his deanship and I am pleased he will continue to serve in an administrative role at HSC as Senior Advisor to the Provost and Dean to ensure an effective transition.
Born in Tanzania, Dr. Dharamsi is a first-generation college graduate deeply committed to student success. He began his career as an inner-city schoolteacher. After completing his graduate education, he joined the Aga Khan Development Network as Regional Director of an early childhood development program in East Africa. He effectively managed more than 200 team members across three countries and fostered consensus in complex social, cultural, political and economic environments while also leading major international fundraising initiatives.
In 2004, Dr. Dharamsi was recruited to the University of British Columbia where he earned tenure in the department of family medicine. He helped lead the Center for International Health and fostered the development of an interprofessional community engagement and social accountability curriculum within medical and dental education. As Research Director, he advanced translational and applied research in primary care settings focused on health disparities in underserved communities.
After 18 years at UBC, Dr. Dharamsi accepted an outstanding opportunity to serve as the Founding Associate Dean of Social Accountability, Professionalism and Community and Global Engagement at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine. He helped to establish overall academic operations, led the recruitment of key administrators and guided the formation and oversight of a cross-disciplinary research office.
In 2017, he was recruited to the University of Texas at El Paso where he spent the next four years serving as Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Professor of Public Health. The college made tremendous advancements under his leadership with the development of a new strategic plan, expansion of the Minority Health International Research Training program for students and a substantial increase in sponsored research awards.
Most recently, Dr. Dharamsi served as Senior Advisor to the Provost and Visiting Professor at New Mexico State University where he helped advance the formation of the new College of Health, Education and Social Transformation.
He holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies and M.S. in Dental Science from the University of British Columbia, a B.S. in Dental Hygiene from the Medical College of Georgia and a B.A. in Human Geography and a Bachelor of Education in Teacher Education from York University in Canada.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Dharamsi on his new role at HSC. I look forward to continued success for the School of Public Health through his proven leadership and commitment to excellence in education, research, service and public health practice and policy initiatives.
I would also like to thank the search committee, chaired by Dr. Sylvia Trent-Adams, for their outstanding work during the vetting process as well as everyone who participated in the interview sessions and provided feedback on the finalists for this position.
Welcome to HSC, Dr. Dharamsi!