SEC Academic Leadership Development Program

Home College/School: School of Public Health

Bio: Dr. Tamika Gilreath is the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the School of Public Health and the Associate Director for the Center for Health Equity and Evaluation Research. As the Associate Dean, she is responsible for development, implementation, and oversight of policies and procedures relevant to annual evaluation and promotion and/or tenure for academic professional track and tenure-track faculty. Dr. Gilreath also identifies and supports professional development opportunities for faculty related to leadership, teaching, scholarship, and service. Prior administrative experiences include serving as Graduate Programs Chair for the department of Health and Kinesiology (~300 graduate students), chair of the School of Education and Human Development (SEHD) Research Council, and co-chair of the SEHD Graduate Curriculum Council. Additionally, she has served on a variety of university committees (e.g., University Grievance Committee, Committee for Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Tenure, Process Improvement Committee, Faculty Professional Development Committee, and others). 

Dr. Gilreath received her doctorate in Biobehavioral Health from The Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on behavioral health risks that co-occur with tobacco and other drug use among vulnerable/underserved adolescents (ages 11-17) and youth (ages 15-24) populations globally. Dr. Gilreath’s work in these areas has been supported by several federal agencies (e.g., NICHD, NCI, NIMHD, and DoDEA). She has co-authored over 85 manuscripts and collaborated on over 150 presentations at national and international conferences regarding correlates of adolescent substance use, depressive symptoms, suicidality, and sexual risk.

Home College/School: School of Architecture

Bio: Dr. Phil Lewis has a 33-year professional career, with 14 years in the construction industry and 19 years in academia. Since January 1, 2022, he has served as the Interim Department Head of the Department of Construction Science in the School of Architecture. With approximately 1,500 students and 65 faculty and staff, the Department of Construction Science is the largest construction education and research program in the nation, offering BS, MS, and PhD degrees in construction science and management.

Prior to his role as Interim Department Head, he served as Associate Department Head and Graduate Program Coordinator. Dr. Lewis led the effort to develop a new degree program for the PhD in Construction Science, which is one of the few department-level doctoral programs for construction in the nation. He transformed the Master of Science in Construction Management by converting it to a STEM-designated program, which helped increase enrollment from approximately 20 students to over 100 students. He also collaborated with Texas A&M administration to create the new Master of Science in Construction Management Online program. This program admitted the first cohort of 33 students in Fall 2023 and will have approximately 80 students by Fall 2024.

Currently, Dr. Lewis is working with Texas A&M leadership on a growth plan for the Department of Construction Science, which will see the Department reach 2,000 students and 100 faculty and staff by 2028.

Home College/School: College of Arts & Sciences

Bio: Dr. Simon W. North is the John W. Bevan Professor of Chemistry and the Executive Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas A&M University. He has recently served as Head of the Department of Chemistry for over 8 years, supervising 43 tenure-track faculty, 22 academic professional track faculty, and over 50 staff members. As Head, he was responsible for balancing the large (>24,000 seats) teaching program and vibrant research enterprise (>$19M in annual expenditures).  He has served on numerous University Committees and Taskforces including the Department Head Steering Committee, the Operational Assessment Committee, and the Graduate Instruction Committee.

Dr. North received his B.S. from the University of New Hampshire and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. His research program focuses on the study of molecular reaction dynamics, chemical kinetics, laser-based diagnostics development, and flow visualization. He is currently the co-director of the National Aerothermochemistry Laboratory and has authored or co-authored over 140 articles in peer reviewed journals, including Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Dr. North is also a committed instructor and has been recognized by numerous awards for teaching of his career.

Home College/School: School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences

Bio: Dr. Ramesh Vemulapalli is Executive Associate Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University. Prior to assuming this role in 2022, he served as Head of the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology for 6 years. He held faculty and administrative positions at Purdue University for 15 years before moving to Texas A&M in 2016.

As Executive Associate Dean, Vemulapalli holds the second-highest administration position at the school and is responsible for helping support the school’s teaching, research, and service missions. One of his priorities is developing and implementing the best administrative and management practices that promote the career success of faculty and enhance the academic excellence of the school. 

In addition to his administrative duties, Vemulapalli teaches immunology and infectious diseases to veterinary and undergraduate students and conducts research on infectious diseases. His primary research focus is on zoonotic pathogens of veterinary importance, including Brucella spp. His research projects have been funded by NIH and USDA. His international activities included advising the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, on their Network Project on Brucellosis, providing hands-on molecular diagnostics workshops to veterinarians in Kabul, Afghanistan, and serving as an expert consultant to the Animal Health Division of the International Atomic Energy Agency on irradiated brucellosis vaccines. 

Vemulapalli received his veterinary training in India and later earned a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.