BU appoints new dean of Sargent College

Boston University appointed U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official Christopher Moore as the new dean of Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, BU Today announced Thursday.

Moore, a professor of speech and hearing sciences with experience in teaching, research and administration, began on Aug. 15. He succeeds interim Dean Kathleen Morgan after former Dean Gloria Waters became vice president and associate provost for research in 2013.

While news of Moore’s appointment was told to Sargent faculty and staff over the summer, Associate Provost of Faculty Affairs Julie Sandell said the general announcement was postponed until BU was back in session to reach the broader community of students, faculty and staff.

“It’s a very exciting opportunity and a great opportunity for anyone to be part of a such a highly regarded team with top quality programs, faculty [and] students,” Moore said. “I’m looking forward to working through this complex learning phase and moving forward to the things where I can really start to have more creative input on the process.”

Moore said he wants to ensure that Sargent remains a leader in conducting research and training future health professionals.

“My main goals are the same as the goals of the university: to improve excellence in our programs, provide an even better education for students, to advance knowledge and discovery in our discipline,” he said. “Sargent is already achieving at such a high level, so my goal is to help it achieve even greater things.”

Before coming to BU, Moore served as a federal researcher for the National Institutes of Health, a program manager for the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and a professor of speech and hearing sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Sandell said given Moore’s diverse background, he will serve as an excellent dean of Sargent.

“He has knowledge of the research funding environment from both sides, as a funded faculty member and as an administrator, in two important sources of research funding for Sargent College,” she said in an email. “He is well-versed in the challenges of combining basic research, clinical training and clinical services all within one unit, and that made him a strong choice for Sargent College.”

Several students said they look forward to the work he will do for the school.

Lisa Anammah, a junior in Sargent, said she appreciates Moore’s goals for improving the college.

“It’s natural for him to want to improve the school and have the intention to want things to be better and add programs,” she said. “I would like a dean who is attentive and looks at trends in the health field to match what work professionals want to see.”

Erin Burkett, a first-year graduate student in Sargent, said Moore’s extensive background would allow him to advocate on behalf of students with a variety of interests.

“He’s a good fit having a background in academia in a leadership position, which is always great,” she said. “What I would like to see in my program…are more inter-professional events because I feel like there is a big separation between the different graduate programs. There should be more mixing of the student population.”

Gabby Romero, a freshman in Sargent, said she was impressed by Moore’s connection to students when he presented in one of her classes.

“In many cases, people who are professional or academic come off as elitist, but he was very down to earth,” she said. “It’s easy to come in and think of new things, [but] I would like to see him develop on what we already have. I appreciate that he’s had so much experience in the field as a practitioner. What he did is very applicable, and we can learn a lot from that.”