I write to share the bittersweet news that Carmen Valdez, who has been a terrific colleague and significant contributor to the UT community, will be leaving our University for a new and exciting opportunity. For the last six years, she has held a joint appointment with the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Dell Medical School’s Department of Population Health, where she leads the Division of Community Engagement and Health Equity. She has done excellent work in both roles.

Carmen will start a new position this fall at the UT School of Public Health (SPH) San Antonio, serving as inaugural Associate Dean of Research and Partnerships. In this new role, she will support the school’s research and scholarly activity, including research partnerships with community and industry stakeholders. She will also represent the SPH on institutional committees with relevance to research community engagement and develop strategies to build the local to global footprint of the school.

I want to recognize that the Steve Hicks School’s loss is UT School of Public Health’s gain. Their leaders recognize in Carmen a clear also her dedication to her colleagues, students, and the mission of the school of which she is a part. 

Carmen has contributed in remarkable ways to both the Steve Hicks School as well as Dell Medical School, and in a relatively short period of time. There is no doubt that we are better because of her presence with us.

I celebrate this opportunity Carmen has been given to utilize her many talents in new ways as she leads in a newly created role and in a different institution, and I celebrate equally the opportunities that will follow from what I am confident will be good and important work, that which is done on behalf of many people and communities, in Texas and well beyond.

Her new appointment begins October 21, 2024, and she will finish out the current semester as instructor for a master’s level course she is currently teaching.

I know that you will join me in gratitude for Carmen and her work, and that you will celebrate with me the opportunities that lie ahead for her and the SPH.

Allan Cole

Dean, Steve Hicks School