Guskiewicz named UNC Arts and Sciences dean

UNC-Chapel Hill has chosen an insider to be dean of its College of Arts and Sciences – Kevin Guskiewicz, a neuroscientist and well-known expert on sports-related concussions.

He succeeds Karen Gil, who will return to teaching after six years as dean. He’ll start the job Jan. 1.

Guskiewicz, a UNC faculty member for 20 years, is senior associate dean in the college, where he oversees academic departments in natural sciences and mathematics. He is a professor of exercise and sports science and director of two centers – one on traumatic brain injury and one on retired athletes.

Guskiewicz is an internationally recognized expert on concussions. His research on sports-related concussions has influenced guidelines for the NCAA and NFL.

In 2011, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his work on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of sport-related concussions. He and his colleagues used that award to help improve safety in high school sports and to help the U.S. military identify and treat serious head injuries. In 2013, Time magazine named him a “Game Changer,” one of 18 innovators creating change in the United States.

Guskiewicz will oversee the largest academic unit on campus, where 16,000 undergraduates and 2,500 graduate students are educated.

The College of Arts and Sciences houses the department formerly known as African and Afro-American Studies, where a system of no-show classes helped keep athletes eligible to play. An investigation last year by former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein showed that thousands of students, roughly half of them athletes, took the fake classes during three decades. The scheme was masterminded by a former department head and former administrative manager, but the investigation showed that others had some knowledge or involvement.

Many reforms have since been implemented in the College of Arts and Sciences, including limits on independent studies and more oversight for academic department heads.

A story this year in The News & Observer showed that Guskiewicz was among several officials who had been swayed to accommodate a football player who was admitted to UNC’s graduate school in 2003 without the typical requirements – he had no entrance exam scores and an insufficient grade-point average. Guskiewicz later sent a scathing letter to the athletics department, after the athlete missed classes and an exam.

In a 2004 letter to John Blanchard, then a senior associate athletic director, Guskiewicz wrote that the athlete was accepted, despite a marginal GPA, “because we believed that helping a student, and a group of colleagues in the Athletic Department was the right thing to do at the time. Four months later, we now look foolish.”

Guskiewicz holds appointments in the departments of orthopaedics and physical medicine and rehabilitation, the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center and the doctoral program in human movement science.

“Kevin is a natural fit to become the next leader of our vibrant College of Arts and Sciences, which provides students with a critical foundation for learning and discovery every day,” Chancellor Carol Folt said in a statement. “An extremely accomplished teacher and researcher renowned for his expertise in injury prevention, Kevin represents the very best of Carolina. We look forward to his continued leadership on our campus.”

Guskiewicz earned a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from West Chester University, a master’s in exercise physiology/athletic training from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate in sports medicine from the University of Virginia.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Guskiewicz named UNC Arts and Sciences dean."