Kent State Health College Dean Steps Down

 young College of Public Health will see its second dean in as many years of existence for the school.

The university announced this morning Mark James will step down as the health college dean after just one year in the position.

Sonia Alemagno, a professor of health policy and management and associate dean of the college, will take over for James on July 1 — one year after he took the job as the inaugural dean.

The university said in a statement James chose to return to his "first love" of teaching and relinquished his deanship.

The change in leadership comes just after the school celebrated its first graduates with bachelor's degrees in public health this month and as the school looks forward to relocating on the Kent campus as part of .

Kent State Provost Robert Frank said Alemagno makes perfect sense to lead the new college.

"Sonia has been an integral part of establishing our new College of Public Health and then getting it up and running," Frank said in prepared remarks. "The college has been growing rapidly with more than 250 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. This growth can be attributed to Sonia’s hard work and ongoing dedication to the college. Sonia is a strong academic and intellectual leader who will work with us to take the College of Public Health to the next level."

Alemagno, a Kent State graduate, joined the university faculty in 2009 to help develop the new health college. She was named interim vice president for research in July 2010. She previously served as chair of the Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies and as director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at the University of Akron.

James was announced as dean in February 2010. James came from Tulane University, where he spent 21 years of his academic career before moving to Ohio. He will serve as executive director of global health programs at Kent State.