NEWS
Dr. Christine
Sapienza Named
Senior Vice
President of
Academic Affairs
and Provost
After a thorough national search
lasting more than a year, in October
2019 Jacksonville University
named respected speech-language
pathology scholar and inventor
Dr. Christine Sapienza as its Senior
Vice President of Academic Affairs
and Provost — the chief academic
officer of the University.
orientation toward partnership,
progress and innovation will
serve us well in achieving our
institutional ambitions in the
years ahead.” rehabilitation, Dr. Sapienza has
published 125 peer-reviewed articles,
placing her among the most cited
authors in her field with an overall
scholar score of “outstanding.”
Dr. Sapienza, who joined
Jacksonville University as
Associate Dean in 2013, has served
as interim Provost since May 2018.
The search committee, comprised
of nine senior faculty members
representing the University’s four
colleges, formally recommended
Dr. Sapienza as the top candidate
among three accomplished
national finalists. In her six years at JU, Dr. Sapienza
has paved a historic path. She has
successfully developed hundreds
of industry and community
partnerships that continue to
benefit faculty and students. Known globally as the co-inventor
of the expiratory muscle strength
trainer (the EMST150), which is
used by speech pathologists around
the world, Dr. Sapienza continues
to invent new devices to help
deliver safe, quality patient care.
She also has written best-selling
textbooks and edited volumes
that serve to teach rehabilitation
strategies to clinicians.
“Having served alongside
Dr. Sapienza in our University’s
shared leadership model of
governance since 2013, I have seen
her drive, commitment, dedication,
and decisiveness in action to the
benefit of our faculty, students
and community,” said Jacksonville
University President Tim Cost,
who accepted the formal
recommendation of the search
committee. “Dr. Sapienza has been
a creative and passionate advocate
for the outstanding work of our
talented faculty. Her consistent She also led the effort to establish
the University’s first new college
in over 30 years — the Brooks
Rehabilitation College of Healthcare
Sciences (BRCHS). Under her
leadership, BRCHS has become
the largest and fastest-growing
college at Jacksonville University
and secured significant research
grants from the National Institutes
of Health and the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
She launched a new undergraduate
and graduate academic program
in Communication Sciences
and Disorders.
A leading scholar in the discipline
of speech-language pathology and
Before coming to Jacksonville
University, Dr. Sapienza taught at
the University of Florida for 20
years, including eight years as chair
of UF’s highly-ranked Department
of Communication Sciences and
Disorders. She holds a Ph.D. in
Speech Science from the University
at Buffalo, as well as an M.A. and
B.A. in Communication Sciences.
Her areas of specialization include
voice, respiratory muscle strength
training, swallow function, and
neurodegenerative diseases.
NEWS
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