(Jackson, MS) – Dr. Ricardo A. Brown, a veteran administrator and cardiovascular physiologist who has worked with the National Institutes of Health and led programs to open higher education pathways for underrepresented populations, has been named the new dean of Jackson State University’s College of Public Service.
Brown comes to JSU after serving as assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University System of Maryland and chief academic programs officer at the Universities at Shady Grove, which is part of the system. In his positions, Brown helped to create education and career pathways in the science, technology, engineering and health disciplines, placing emphasis on increasing minority and first-generation college student populations.
From 2002 to 2008, Brown was health scientist administrator/minority health & health disparities coordinator for the NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Brown’s appointment at JSU, which is effective July 1, has been approved by the Mississippi Board of Trustees for the State Institutions of Higher Learning. The university’s College of Public Service is a global multidisciplinary learning environment that stresses excellence in teaching, research and service in partnership with urban and rural communities statewide, nationally and globally.
“Dr. Brown brings to JSU a wealth of administrative and public health research experience. His background makes him well-suited to lead the College of Public Service as it continues to educate students from diverse backgrounds for jobs in health sciences, policy, planning and social work,” said JSU Provost James C. Renick.
Brown previously served as associate vice president for sponsored programs at Howard University. He was the principal signing agent for grant contracts and corporate agreements on behalf of the university. Brown also was a professor at Howard University College of Medicine in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics.
Brown is president and CEO of RAB Associates, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting services company handling grants, contracts administration, continuous process improvement, program and project management and evaluation.
Brown said his focus at JSU will include strategies to integrate and foster research opportunities for students that would branch across the three divisions of social work, policy and planning and health sciences. He said such research is particularly important in Mississippi because of the state’s high rates of cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer and diabetes and the health disparities that persist in the African-American community.
“I look forward to working with the college’s talented faculty and staff as we pursue innovative approaches to address these disparities. We can play an important role in collaborative research nationwide and globally,” Brown said.
Brown received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Oakwood College. He earned his Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from Howard University.
Earlier in his career, Brown served as chairman of biology at Morgan State University and a professor in the Department of Physiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Brown’s research on the cardiovascular effects of alcohol consumption has been published extensively and he has received recognition for medical student training and directing programs designed to increase minority student participation in STEM programs, biomedical sciences and medicine.