Ruit appointed associate dean for education and faculty affairs at UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

8-25-2017

Campus Unit

School of Medicine & Health Sciences

Abstract

GRAND FORKS, N.D.—Kenneth G. Ruit, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, has been named associate dean for education and faculty affairs at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS). Ruit previously served as associate dean for educational administration and faculty affairs.

Among other responsibilities, in his new role Dr. Ruit will provide leadership, support and oversight for undergraduate, graduate, professional and postdoctoral education in alignment with the school’s strategic plan, oversee academic personnel processes for all faculty, including recruitment, appointments, evaluation, promotion and tenure, manage a school-wide effort to optimize faculty professional development opportunities, and act as a liaison between the SMHS and other UND colleges, departments, programs and administrative units.

“Graduates from our innovative and high-quality programs and our faculty’s remarkable research achievements are impacting healthcare in North Dakota and nationwide,” said Dr. Ruit. “That’s a reflection of the value the School places on cultivating and sustaining an environment in which students and faculty members can achieve their personal and professional goals. I am excited to be given the opportunity to serve the School in this role.”

Dr. Ruit received his Ph.D. in Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy from Loyola University of Chicago in 1989. A faculty member at the SMHS since 1991, he teaches human anatomy and neuroscience to undergraduate, graduate and medical students. He has served UND in a variety of administrative roles since 1998. First serving as assistant dean for academic and faculty affairs in 2008, Dr. Ruit assumed the role of associate dean for educational administration and faculty affairs in 2014.

Dr. Ruit has received many awards and honors in his time at the SMHS, including being named a Bush Foundation Teaching Scholar (2002) and receiving the UND Foundation/Lydia and Arthur Saiki Prize for Graduate or Professional Teaching Excellence (1997, 2005) and the North Dakota Spirit Faculty Achievement Award (2014). He has been named an Outstanding Block Instructor by SMHS medical students more than a dozen times. Dr. Ruit is active in educational research and serves as associate editor for the journal Anatomical Sciences Education. He is involved in institutional and program accreditation serving both the Higher Learning Commission and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

“Dr. Ruit will head a group that works to assist faculty and students throughout the entire School of Medicine and Health Sciences with educational and administrative issues, regardless of discipline, location, or focus,” added Dr. Joshua Wynne, professor of Internal Medicine, vice president of Health Affairs at UND, and dean of the UND SMHS. “We’re very excited about this move, which is part of a larger organizational adjustment at the School that should allow us to improve the School’s functionality while simultaneously reducing our expenditures.”

# # #

Brian James Schill

Assistant Director, Office of Alumni & Community Relations

University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences

701.777.2733

brian.schill@med.und.edu | www.med.und.edu

Share

COinS