Dr. Allen Nelson Lewis, Jr., Named Dean of the School of Health Professions at SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Nov 17, 2015
Brooklyn, NY – Allen Nelson Lewis, Jr., PhD, has been named dean of the School of Health Professions at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, it was announced by John F. Williams, Jr., MD, EdD, MPH, FCCM, president of SUNY Downstate. Dr. Lewis assumes his responsibilities as dean in January 2016.
In making the announcement, President Williams said, “Dr. Lewis has a unique and viable vision for the College that extends well beyond the traditional status quo to include taking the College to the next level of excellence. He is a strategic and critical thinker with a strong background in program administration, as well as an in-depth knowledge of how to empirically measure and improve programmatic success.”
SUNY Downstate’s School of Health Professions is dedicated to educating the next generation of health professionals in diagnostic medical imaging, medical informatics, midwifery, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant practice.
Dr. Lewis most recently has been department head, Department of Health Sciences, at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. There he has had dean-level responsibility supervising 47 full-time faculty and staff members with responsibility for eight academic programs, including physician assistant services, occupational therapy, health services administration, dietetics, athletic training, health studies, public health education, and health assessment and promotion, training 1800 undergraduate and graduate students, and managing an annual budget of $5 million.
As a researcher, Dr. Lewis has published more than 65 refereed journal articles, book chapters, a book, and other works. He has conducted over 130 (invited and refereed) international, national, regional, statewide, and local presentations. He has ample experience as a principal investigator, co-investigator, and program evaluator for funded research of over $15.5 million
Dr. Lewis received his Bachelor’s degree in Rhetoric and Communication Studies and African-American and African Studies from the University of Virginia; a Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University; and a PhD in Education (concentration: Leadership/Health Services Research) from Virginia Commonwealth University.
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About SUNY Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively.
SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.