Provost names Beck to be acting dean of College of Health Professions, Olsson to retire in June

Teresa Beck has been appointed to serve as acting dean of the College of Health Professions beginning June 21, when current dean Roy Olsson retires.

Beck is currently an associate dean in CHP and a professor of recreational therapy. She joined Grand Valley in 1995 as a recreational therapy faculty member and has held positions of program director and department chair.  

Provost Maria Cimitile said Beck has served the university community in multiple positions, including faculty director of Freshman Orientation, chair of the Faculty Personnel Policy Committee, member of the Faculty Salary and Budget Committee, University Academic Senate and Executive Committee of the Senate. 

Olsson will retire in June after 12 years as dean of the College of Health Professions. Cimitile said Olsson built a strong college that will be resilient as its leadership changes.

“Dean Olsson led the college at a critical time as numerous health profession programs were added to the university,” said Cimitile. “He helped develop policies and practices as the numbers of faculty, programs and units continued to grow. He was a strong advocate for the facilities and staffing as evidenced by the construction and naming of the Health Campus. In short, Dean Olsson not only built programs, he was instrumental in building the reputation of the university.”

 Cimitile said Olsson provided insight and a depth of understanding of the health fields that has benefited the entire Grand Valley community. "Dean Olsson’s insistence on the quality of our programs resulted in the reputation of our graduates as best in their field.”

Olsson came to Grand Valley in May 2008 after serving as dean of the School of Professional Studies at the State University of New York at Cortland. His diverse background of expertise includes experience in public health, rehabilitation and therapeutic recreation fields.