Originally published May 31, 2016
By Laura L. Acosta
UTEP Communications
College of Health Sciences Dean Kathleen Curtis, Ph.D., had something in common with the health sciences graduates with whom she shared the stage at UTEP’s evening Commencement ceremony on May 14, 2016. She, too, was about to exit UTEP and embark on a new journey beyond academia. But unlike the college’s newly minted health and rehabilitation professionals, Curtis’ new profession will involve rehabilitating marine mammals instead of human patients.
Spring Commencement marked Curtis’ last official day at The University of Texas at El Paso after 32 years in higher education. She served the last nine years as dean of UTEP’s College of Health Sciences. Osama Mikhail, Ph.D., has been appointed the college’s interim dean.
Following her retirement, Curtis plans to volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center’s rescue and triage center in Morro Bay, California.
“Universities have a lot to share with the community,” Curtis said, reflecting on her accomplishments at UTEP and at California State University in Fresno. “Together we can approach some of the very complex problems and make some progress by putting our endless supply of students to work and giving faculty research agendas that actually work on real life problems that people around them are experiencing.”
The College of Health Sciences experienced significant growth during Curtis’ tenure. Graduate enrollment increased by 150 percent after she helped to usher in graduate programs in rehabilitation counseling, social work, public health and the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree.
Barbara A. Schoen, Ph.D., said the Master of Rehabilitation Counseling (MRC) program would not exist today if it were not for the dean’s efforts. Soon after arriving at UTEP, Curtis began to develop a proposal for the program. At the time, El Paso had only six certified rehabilitation counselors serving 80,000 people with disabilities. Since launching the MRC program in 2010, 40 graduates have earned their master’s degrees in rehabilitation counseling.
“Our graduates are strewn across El Paso and the United States, and they’re all making changes in the lives of people with disabilities,” Schoen, the MRC program director, told Curtis during her May 6 retirement party. “Without you and your vision, they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing, and we would not be doing what we’re doing. You will be missed.”
Curtis also introduced several initiatives that addressed some of the community’s most pressing health-related problems, including the Community and Academic Partnerships for Health Science Research and Education, which spurred research collaborations between UTEP researchers and community agencies. She also served as the principal investigator for the Paso del Norte Institute for Healthy Living and worked with faculty to expand the Minority Health International Research Training Program at UTEP by creating research opportunities for students with universities in Central and South America.
For Curtis, being a member of the planning committee that designed the Health Sciences and Nursing Building was a dream come true. Her goal was to help create an environment that facilitated interprofessional education and interdisciplinary collaboration among health sciences students.
“I think what I will remember most is her persistence and passion and her love for the community, which put the College of Health Sciences in a really special place,” said Leticia Paez, assistant dean for community and international programs. Paez said she will even miss the dean’s nightly 10 p.m. phone calls and 4 a.m. emails. “So thank you, Kathy, for leaving El Paso a better place.”
Curtis’ first official day at UTEP was June 15, 2007, after serving as interim associate dean for the College of Health and Human Services at California State University in Fresno. She started her career as a physical therapist in 1972 and transitioned into academia in 1984. She became involved in the sport of wheelchair basketball in 1973 when she was a physical therapist at Tufts New England Medical Center and Rehabilitation Institute. In April 2016, Curtis was inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame in Louisville, Kentucky.
After enjoying a long and distinguished career, Curtis said the time was right for her to pursue other lifelong interests outside of education and physical therapy.
“I think you know inside when it’s time to go,” Curtis said. “I’m just thrilled to have had the opportunity and the honor to be in this role as long as I have.”
At the Marine Mammal Center, Curtis will make fish food and feed baby seals and sea lions that have been abandoned on the beach.
For a surprise going away gift, College of Health Sciences’ faculty and staff adopted a seal in her name each month for the next 12 months as part of the Marine Mammal Center’s Adopt-a-Seal of the Month Club. At Curtis’ retirement party, staff unveiled a portrait of Beemer Cruise, the dean’s June harbor seal pup.
“We got it started for you,” said Daniela Lerma, the dean’s assistant, who mentioned that they got the idea after the dean took a course on rescuing sea lions at the Marine Mammal Center during a recent visit to California.
Before saying goodbye, faculty took a few minutes to share a personal memory of the dean. Leah Whigham, executive director of the Paso del Norte Institute for Healthy Living, said she would miss Curtis’ mentorship.
“She worked so hard to recruit me to come to El Paso,” Whigham said. “I love what I do. I’ve never been in a better place in my career and she has made such a difference in the lives of the people of this whole region … So my gratitude really goes out to her.”