Jamison Fargo Appointed Interim Dean

On January 1, 2021, Jamison Fargo began serving as interim dean in the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, while the search for a permanent dean is carried out. Dr. Fargo was serving as executive associate dean for the college from 2019 to 2020; his new appointment as interim dean, announced by USU Executive Vice President and Provost Frank Galey, follows outgoing dean Beth Foley’s announcement that she would be stepping down at the end of 2020.

“It is an honor to serve the college in this capacity while USU carries out a search for a permanent dean,” said Fargo. “The college carries a vibrant, strong legacy of research, teaching, and service both locally and nationally and, because of this foundation, has a very bright future ahead.”

Foley offered her full support of the appointment. “I am pleased that Dr. Fargo has been appointed to be the interim dean of the college,” she said. “I have had the pleasure of working alongside him for many years, and I am excited to see the college benefit from his outstanding leadership.”

In addition to being a professor in the Psychology Department, Dr. Fargo served in the college as associate dean for research from 2014 to 2019, where he directed the Office of Research Services and founded and directed the Office of Methodological and Data Sciences, now known as the Stat Studio.

Fargo earned master’s degrees in both clinical psychology and quantitative epidemiology and a PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Cincinnati. He was a research scientist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, working with the National Center on Homelessness among Veterans and both the Salt Lake City and Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. He also previously worked at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a senior research investigator in the Center for Health Equity Research, a biostatistician in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, and an associate fellow in the Center for Public Health Initiatives.

Provost Galey has appointed a search committee to select a permanent dean under the leadership of committee chair Larry Smith, Vice President for the USU Statewide System. The committee consists of faculty and staff representatives from each of the college’s academic departments and the Dean’s Office, as well as a student representative. The university aims to complete the search process in 2021.