Earlier this month, Tammy Hopper informed us that she is stepping down from her role as Dean of Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine effective March 31, 2025.
Esther Kim, professor and chair of Rehabilitation Medicine's Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, will be serving as interim dean effective April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. We are in the process of finalizing an acting chair to cover for Esther in the meantime. A search and selection process to find Dean Hopper’s successor will begin in Fall 2025. We are thankful to Esther for stepping in during this time.
Dean Hopper has spent her academic career at the 海角社区, joining as an assistant professor in 2001. In her 23 years at the 海角社区, she has served in several leadership roles, including associate dean and vice dean in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, and as vice-provost (programs) in the Office of the Provost and Vice President Academic. Since 2021, she has served as dean (interim and full term) in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.
As dean, she collaborated with the senior leadership team of the Faculty and partners across the university and greater community, to expand enrollment in the three professional master’s programs in physical, occupational and speech-language therapy to the Augustana Campus, to develop a Memorandum of Relational Understanding between the 海角社区 and Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta regarding educational offerings for high school students, to negotiate an Interprovincial Agreement with the Ministry of Advanced Education in Saskatchewan to reserve seats for Saskatchewan residents in the MSc-SLP program in Alberta, to participate in the Black Academic Excellence Cohort Hire Initiative at the institutional level, to develop an Impact Evaluation Framework for EDI initiatives in the Faculty and to create and co-chair the Alberta Allied Health and Rehabilitation Strategic Coalition.
We are grateful for Dean Hopper’s expertise and dedication to the university’s students, faculty and staff. Please join us in recognizing her achievements and wishing her the best in the future.
Verna Yiu
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
Brenda Hemmelgarn
Dean & Vice-Provost, College of Health Sciences
Dean, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry