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NORTHFIELD, Vt. — �Ļ�Ӱ�� has named Dr. Karen Gaines, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University who also holds an academic appointment as professor of physiology, as provost and dean of the faculty, beginning at the end of the spring 2022 semester.

“Dr. Gaines’ professional and leadership experiences have well equipped her to advance �Ļ�Ӱ��’s mission,” President Mark Anarumo said. “I have every confidence we have appointed an innovative, critical thinker who will lead �Ļ�Ӱ�� into new states of elevation and relevance as we enter our third century of service to our nation and the world.”

Gaines has served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach, Florida, campus since 2016. (The school also has a campus in Prescott, Arizona, near Phoenix.) She oversees five departments, as well as the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Army ROTC units for the campus.

Dr. Karen Gaines is internationally recognized for her expertise on the fate and transport of toxicants for environmental and human risk assessment.

Before joining Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Gaines worked for the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (USDOE) Savannah River Site, served as department chair of Biological Sciences at Eastern Illinois University and was founding director of the Geographic Information Science Center at this same institution.

Gaines’ doctorate is in environmental toxicology from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health. Her work in radiation epidemiology, exposure, risk assessment, and radionuclide fate and transport earned her a doctoral achievement award.

Gaines is internationally recognized for her expertise on the fate and transport of toxicants for environmental and human risk assessment, specifically pertaining to health physics, radiobiology, radiochemistry, metals and organics.

Gaines has consulted for the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and the Defense Department. She continues to serve these agencies as a risk assessor and spatial data analytics expert. She has received Energy Department funding throughout her career to monitor nuclear waste sites remotely and in situ.

Building relationships

Gaines works in various capacities with the Aerospace Medical Society, American Public Health Association and the Navy Department, and is an appointed member of the Health Physics Society and the International Union of Radioecology. She also holds an adjunct clinical assistant professorship in Florida State University’s College of Medicine.

Since joining Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Gaines has established partnerships with both NASA and the Defense Department on research focusing on human performance and cellular physiological endpoints.

“I am humbled to be given the opportunity to serve as the next Provost and Dean of the Faculty of �Ļ�Ӱ�� and want to thank President Anarumo for his trust,” Gaines said. “The moment I walked on campus, I saw how special the students, faculty, and entire community are. I share the �Ļ�Ӱ�� commitment of developing leaders who have the highest discipline, integrity, loyalty, and honor.

“I promise to wake up every day with the �Ļ�Ӱ�� ‘I will try’ mindset to serve this great institution.”

As �Ļ�Ӱ��’s provost and faculty dean, Gaines will oversee the Office of Academic Affairs, the deans of �Ļ�Ӱ��’s five colleges (College of Professional Schools, College of Science and Mathematics, College of Liberal Arts, College of National Service, and the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies), faculty, staff, finance and administration to facilitate global scholarship, engagement, relevance, and strategic initiatives.

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About �Ļ�Ӱ��
�Ļ�Ӱ�� is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. �Ļ�Ӱ�� offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in Baccalaureate and Graduate Degrees. �Ļ�Ӱ�� was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States. �Ļ�Ӱ�� is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).