The founding dean of UCF’s College of Health Professions and Sciences is an accomplished academic leader in health sciences with a strong background in sports medicine.
Christopher D. Ingersoll joins UCF on Aug. 1 from the University of Toledo. He currently serves as the vice provost for Health Sciences Affairs and dean of the College of Health and Human Services at the university in Ohio.
Ingersoll’s appointment by Elizabeth A. Dooley, UCF’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, follows an intensive national search. The dean will lead efforts to distinguish CHPS as a pacesetter in higher education for delivering healthcare and social services talent, solutions and innovation.
CHPS originated July 1 as part of a reorganization designed to help UCF’s academic enterprise become more impactful. The college includes health-related programs (such as physical therapy and kinesiology), health sciences, social work, athletic training and communications sciences and disorders.
“Dr. Ingersoll brings a wealth of expertise and successful experience to UCF that will help CHPS advance its nationally recognized programs and fashion others,” Dooley says. “We look forward to his contributions in advancing faculty excellence, student success and research at UCF.”
During his four years at Toledo, Ingersoll led the successful merger of two colleges and an academic department from the university’s College of Medicine to form a new college of Health and Human Services. Among his varied accomplishments, he developed college-level plans for capital campaigns and community engagement; established separate associate dean positions for research and diversity and inclusion; and created an Institute of Health and Business Insights.
His previous roles in higher education include serving as dean of The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions at Central Michigan University and, at the University of Virginia, the Joe H. Gieck Professor of Sports Medicine, chair of the Department of Human Services, and professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
Ingersoll also is a professor in athletic training at Toledo’s School of Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences.
Ingersoll also is a professor in athletic training at Toledo’s School of Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences. His professional honors include being elected a fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions. In June, he will be inducted into the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.
“I am honored to be selected as the founding dean for the College of Health Professions and Sciences. I look forward to working with the outstanding faculty, staff and students at UCF to build one of the nation’s premier colleges of its type,” Ingersoll says. “Building this college in a dynamic, growing university like UCF is an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Ingersoll earned his doctoral degree in biomechanics from the University of Toledo; a master’s degree in athletic training from Indiana State University; and a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine from Marietta (OH) College.
