Mahony takes over as dean for EHHS

Brittany Moffat

Photo courtesy of the University of Louisville.

Credit: DKS Editors

The economic prospects of Northeast Ohio may not look good, but that didn’t stop Daniel Mahony, the new dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services, from choosing Kent State.

Mahony, who began work at the university July 1, said the bleak economic outlook for the state and the country makes a “university like this all the more important.”

Mahony worked for the past 13 years in various roles for the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky. Since January 2007, he had been associate provost for academic planning and accountability and a professor in the department of Health and Sport Sciences.

Mahony’s administrative work focused on creating an environment where daunting tasks, such as writing grant proposals and balancing teaching schedules with research deadlines, were made easier for faculty.

Mahony said his goal was to enhance communication between faculty of different disciplines to increase not only the amount of research conducted but also the quality. In the past year, Mahony worked with faculty in three different departments at Louisville to flesh out plans for an autism research and support center.

From the outset, Mahony said he saw the College of Education, Health and Human Services’ emphasis on health programs as a source of potential for new research. But more than the college’s potential drew him to Kent State.

Mahony said the size and diversity of programs in the College of Education, Health and Human Services was appealing. After looking at Kent State’s growth and foreign recruitment, he said he was reminded of where Louisville was in the early 1990s.

“It was the right time to be here,” he said of coming to Kent State.

Mahony, who still has family in his native New Jersey, also said the prospect of a much shorter trip to visit relatives was an added bonus of coming to work at the university.

As Mahony takes over as dean at the college, Interim Dean Donald Bubenzer has stepped back into his role as chair of the Adult, Counseling, Health and Vocational Education department. Bubenzer had acted as interim dean following former Dean David England’s departure in 2007.

Bubenzer, who said his first impression of Mahony was one of someone who had a “good grasp” of how the college worked, said he finds Mahony’s presence reassuring.

“I feel very confident in him,” Bubenzer said.

Contact College of Education, Health and Human Services reporter Brittany Moffat at [email protected].