Appointment of Professor Dexter Voisin as Dean, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (PDAD&C #82)

From:  Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President & Provost
Date: May 13, 2019
Re: Appointment of Professor Dexter Voisin as Dean, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (PDAD&C #82)

I am delighted to announce that the Agenda Committee of Academic Board has approved the appointment of Professor Dexter Voisin as Dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2019. Professor Voisin will also be joining the Faculty at the rank of Full Professor.

Professor Voisin joins the University of Toronto from the School of Social Service Administration (SSA) at the University of Chicago, where he currently serves as the Director of the STI/HIV Intervention Network (SHINE) and Co-Director of the Center for Chicago HIV Elimination (CCHE).

Professor Voisin is an internationally recognized scholar working in the area of community and family violence exposure, HIV-related risk, prevention and intervention, and adolescent risk and protection.  His research focuses on the impact of community violence as it relates to issues such as adolescent mental health and academic performance, and sexually transmitted infections particularly among minority groups. In 2014, Professor Voisin was ranked among the most influential and cited African-American faculty in premier U.S. Social Work programs by the Journal of Evidence-Information Social Work. He is a Fellow at the Center for Health Administration Studies at the University of Chicago and was a Visiting Professor at the University of California, San Francisco as a part of School of Medicine’s Collaborative Studies in HIV Prevention for Ethnic Minority Communities Program.

As the founder and principal investigator for SHINE, Co-Director of CCHE, and Chair of the SSA Clinical Faculty, Professor Voisin has led the creation of strategic plans, faculty and staff recruitment, and the development of partnerships with community organizations and peer schools across range of disciplines. Professor Voisin’s scholarly and community work has advanced the goal of reducing health disparities among racial and sexual minorities. His collaborations have raised more than $10 million in extra-mural research funding. Professor Voisin has also served in numerous professional leadership capacities as a social worker, including significant appointments to state-level committees by the Illinois Governor. Through such professional activities, Professor Voisin has translated his research into practice and informed public health policy across the State of Illinois.

Professor Voisin received his MPhil and PhD from Columbia University, his MSW from the University of Michigan, and his BA from St. Andrews College. Prior to his role at the University of Chicago, Professor Voisin was an Adjunct Lecturer at the School of Social Work at Columbia University.

Professor Voisin’s exceptional leadership, insight, and a keen dedication to collaborative administration will be invaluable to the Faculty over the years to come. Please join me in welcoming Professor Voisin to the University of Toronto.