New assistant dean for inclusive excellence selected
December 18, 2017
The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has named a new assistant dean for inclusive excellence.
Kauline Cipriani, PhD, most recently assistant dean for diversity and inclusion at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, will join the Gillings School on Feb. 19, 2018.
Cipriani, who earned Master of Science and doctoral degrees in microbiology and genetics and food microbiology at Purdue, previously served as co-director of Purdue’s Center of Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion in Veterinary Medicine and assistant professor in the university’s departments of food science and comparative pathobiology.
Her leadership helped Purdue’s veterinary college become a national leader in diversity and inclusion, with replicable models and measurable results. In 2017, the college was named an INSIGHT into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award recipient.
In her previous roles at Purdue, she led the development and implementation of programs and initiatives to enhance access, diversity and inclusive excellence, both at the college and university levels, and also worked in academic affairs.
Her recent professional publications focus on the impact of gender and race/ethnicity on young people’s career aspirations, specifically related to veterinary medicine. She is co-author of a chapter on cultural competence in Veterinary Medical Education: A Practical Guide and co-editor and chapter author for Navigating Diversity and Inclusion in Veterinary Medicine, the first book on diversity within academic veterinary medicine.
“We are thrilled that Dr. Cipriani will join us,” said Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor at the Gillings School. “Her experience as a senior leader in a veterinary college is highly transferable to a school of public health.”
Rimer lauded Cipriani’s accomplishments at Purdue.
“Her track record in building national bridges and increasing diversity at Purdue will help us here at UNC, as we aim for greater faculty, staff and student diversity and inclusion within the Gillings School and larger University,” Rimer said. “We are at an important inflection point. People in the Gillings School are ready to achieve diversity and inclusion at a level never before achieved here. Dr. Cipriani will be a strong, positive and knowledgeable force to coalesce us in actualizing that goal.”
Rimer said Cipriani will complement the strong team that has been built in the Office of Student Affairs under the leadership of Associate Dean Charletta Sims Evans, MEd. Student Affairs is part of Academic Affairs, led by Laura Linnan, ScD, senior associate dean for academic and student affairs.
“I am so grateful to Associate Dean Sims Evans for chairing the search and to all the people who served on the committee that brought Dr. Cipriani to the Gillings School,” Rimer said.
Cipriani said she was thrilled to be joining the Gillings School team.
“The energy and excitement here are palpable, and the groundwork has been laid to develop some very innovative initiatives to expand diversity and maintain a climate of inclusive excellence,” she said. “Simply put, I am eager to get to work!”
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Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu