College of Health & Human Services

Leah Mayo 10’ has been named assistant dean for community engagement and health equity after serving as interim assistant dean during the 2022-23 academic year. Mayo previously served as Center for Healthy Communities coordinator in the College of Health and Human Services and co-director of the North Carolina Public Health Training Center.

This summer, six public health students travelled to Luweero, Uganda to complete malaria data collection and complete a community needs assessment alongside Ndejje University students. This was the university’s first student experience to East Africa.

Hearing his aunt, who is a therapy assistant, talk about her job led Nolan Byrd ’23 to an important realization. “One of the coolest things I could imagine doing in a job would be to help somebody learn to walk again, feed themselves, do daily tasks,” he said. This moment led him to begin his journey in the field of exercise science.

Nakyah McNeal has always been fascinated with people and their experiences. She contemplated a career in psychology because of it, but after taking just one introductory class in social work, she fell in love with the field. “Social work focused on the things I was passionate about: advocating for people, building relationships and making change,” she says.