Indiana State University officials have selected a veteran health care educator, researcher and administrator to serve as dean of the College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services.

Jack Turman Jr. comes to Indiana State from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he has served for the past three years as professor and director of the division of physical therapy education and where he developed and implemented a community partnership to improve birth outcomes among African-Americans. He previously held a variety of positions during 15 years with the School of Dentistry and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, where he founded and directed the Center for Premature Infant Health and Development.

"Dr. Turman is an internationally recognized researcher and a strong advocate of university-community partnerships. He has more than three decades of academic and clinical experience," Biff Williams, Indiana State's provost and vice president of academic affairs, said in announcing the selection. "In recent years, the hard working faculty and staff in the college have made great strides in inter-professional education, the development and implementation of new programs to address health care shortages and in community service. Jack believes in all of these things and is well-suited to lead the college in continuing its tremendous progress."

Turman will begin his duties at Indiana State on Sept. 1. He will be the second dean of the college, which was created in 2007 from the formerly separate colleges of nursing and health and human performance. Williams served as the college's founding dean until being named provost earlier this year.

"I am honored to be the next dean of Indiana State University's College of Nursing, Health and Human Services," Turman said. "ISU's national reputation for university-community engagement and experiential learning provides a solid foundation to grow innovative and relevant education, research and outreach opportunities. I look forward to working with university leadership, faculty, staff, students and community members on exciting endeavors that will optimize the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and neighborhoods."

John Murray, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the search committee said Turman emerged from a highly competitive national search.

"I am confident that he will bring energy, expertise, and enthusiasm to the College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services and to ISU, in general," Murray said. "I am excited to be working with him as part of the group of deans. Dr. Turman's administrative experiences in schools of medicine will be an asset to the CNHHS."

A native of Bakersfield, Calif., Turman began his career in the area of pediatric physical therapy. He holds a master's degree and Ph.D. in kinesiology from the University of California, Los Angeles and a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from Washington University in St. Louis. While at USC, he received numerous recognitions from the state of California for his development of university-community partnerships aimed at reducing pre-term births. He has served as a research consultant for the School of Health Professions at the University of Missouri and as a community engagement consultant with the Black Infant Health Alliance at Florida A & M University.