Appointment of Dean, School of Health Related Professions

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

TO:  UMMC Faculty, Staff and Students
FROM:Dr. Scott Rodgers, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
SUBJECT: Appointment of Dean, School of Health Related Professions

I am pleased to announce that Dr. John C. “Jay” Garner, currently the dean of the College of Health and Human Services and tenured professor of exercise science at Troy University, has been chosen to serve as the next dean of the School of Health Related Professions. His appointment is effective May 30, 2023. 

Dr. Garner will be the fifth person to lead SHRP, which marked its 50^th anniversary in 2022. He brings more than 20 years of instruction and leadership experience, including nine previous years in Mississippi. His research collaborations during his previous time in Mississippi included work with the Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities. 

Dr. Garner earned a master's degree in exercise science and a PhD in kinesiology from Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Delta State University.

His career in the classroom began in 2002 as a graduate assistant and progressed to work in Auburn’s Department of Kinesiology. In 2007, he joined the Department of Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, where he rose to associate professor of exercise science and spent nine years directing the Applied Biomechanics Laboratory. In 2013, he was named chair of the department and was one of two from the university selected as a Southeastern Conference Academic Leadership Fellow.

In 2016, he was named chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion at Troy and later dean of the college in 2021. He is one of five selected as a Troy University Chancellor’s Fellow by the university chancellor and the Institute of Leadership Development. He has co-authored numerous academic journal articles and other published texts in exercise science, and he has shepherded eight accreditations as dean at Troy.

I am excited about this appointment and the future of the School of Health Related Professions as we continue to build on its successful legacy of training outstanding health care professionals.

Thank you.