Jessica Huber named Associate Dean for Research

Jessica E. Huber, Ph.D. has been named associate dean of research for Purdue University’s College of Health and Human Sciences. Huber is professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, and has served as associate vice provost for faculty affairs at Purdue University since 2018. Professor Huber is founder and co-director of CEREBBRAL—Center for Research on Brain, Behavior, and NeuroRehabilitation.

Marion Underwood, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences, announced Professor Huber’s appointment to faculty and staff in the following letter.

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Professor Jessica E. Huber will be the next associate dean for research in the College of Health and Human Sciences (HHS), effective July 1, 2019. She will be preceded by Dorothy Teegarden who has served as associate dean for research and graduate programs since September 2012, and will remain on the faculty. 

I am grateful to Dorothy for her efforts to advance the HHS research program. Some of her many accomplishments as associate dean include establishing the annual HHS Research Awards and the HHS Fall Research Day, leading the creation of the cross-disciplinary “Health and Disease: Science, Culture and Policy Research” poster session, creating the HHS Mentoring program for grantsmanship, coordinating opportunities for HHS faculty to visit the National Institutes of Health (NIH), helping to make the Life Science MRI facility a reality, and spearheading HHS’ Area of Excellence in Research program which resulted in the establishment of the Center for Research on Brain, Behavior, and NeuroRehabilitation (CEREBBRAL), the Purdue Acceptance and Inclusion Consortium (The Consortium) and the Purdue Autism Research Center.

Professor Huber came to Purdue in 2001 as an assistant professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS). In addition to her appointment in SLHS, she holds a courtesy appointment in HHS’ Department of Health and Kinesiology. She is founder and co-director of CEREBBRAL and, since 2018, she has served as associate vice provost for faculty affairs at Purdue University.

Her primary area of research is speech motor control in both normal individuals and individuals with motor speech disorders, in particular Parkinson’s disease, and her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health. She is also interested in how individuals maintain balance in the face of other daily tasks, in particular while communicating. Professor Huber is the creator of SpeechVive, a small, wearable device designed to improve communication in people with Parkinson’s disease. She served as the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship’s Faculty Fellow for Entrepreneurship from 2012-2015. She has been recognized with the Outstanding Commercialization Award for Purdue University faculty and was inducted into the Purdue Innovator Hall of Fame in 2013.

I’d like to thank Valerie Knopik, Ben and Maxine Miller Professor of Human Development and Family Studies for leading the search. I very much appreciate her work and that of the search committee.

I am delighted that Professor Huber has accepted this role. She has proven success in leveraging strong collaborations between basic and applied scientists. She brings a breadth of administrative experience in developing and implementing initiatives and refining existing programs and processes. Her personal knowledge of entrepreneurship and commercialization will be extremely valuable to HHS innovators looking to license and/or commercialize inventions. Please join me in congratulating her as the next associate dean for research in HHS.

Sincerely,

Marion K. Underwood, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Health and Human Sciences