Sherry Mee Bell, head of the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, is now acting dean of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.
Her appointment was announced January 12 by Interim Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor John Zomchick and took effect immediately. She is stepping in for Dean Bob Rider, who is on medical leave.
Bell’s ties to UT run deep; she earned her bachelor’s degree in education here. While working as special education resource teacher in Knox County, she returned to UT to complete her master’s degree in educational psychology and later her PhD in school psychology. She began serving as an adjunct instructor at UT in 1995 and was appointed to the faculty in 2000. She currently leads the college’s largest department, which houses most of UT’s primary teacher preparation programs.
As acting dean, Bell will oversee operations of the college, which includes the Bailey Graduate School of Education (composed of the Departments of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Educational Psychology and Counseling, and Theory and Practice in Teacher Education); the Departments of Child and Family Studies; Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies; Nutrition; Public Health; and Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management. The college is also home to 17 centers, institutes, and academies.