Wallack steps down as dean

Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs Lawrence Wallack will be resigning from his position at the end of the summer after nine years at PSU.

Wallack has co-authored four books, penned numerous articles and won various honors and awards. As an advocate for community engagement, Wallack founded the Berkeley Media Studies Group in 1993, among others.

Wallack has been noted for such achievements as consistent student enrollment growth, increasing graduation rates and the addition of new faculty members.

He will start a sabbatical as a senior public health fellow at the Moore Institute at Oregon Health and Science University, as well as participate as a senior scholar at the BMSG in California this September.

Following his resignation as dean, he plans to dedicate the rest of his career to what he terms “developmental origins” of health and disease by synthesizing and applying his findings within the community at OHSU, and then framing these findings in California.

Much of Wallack’s career has been devoted to alcohol and substance abuse prevention, as well as communicating these findings to the media and general public with the hope of building a supportive community. His books include News for a Change: An Advocate’s Guide to Working with the Media and Reporting on Violence: A Handbook for Journalists.

The college of Urban and Public Affairs has begun a search to replace Wallack this spring.

“As you can appreciate, I have given this decision long and careful thought, and I know that this is the right path at the right time for me,” Wallack said in a letter to faculty. “I am very excited about the future and look forward to doing everything I can to make a difference in this world.”