TEXAS A&M HEALTH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Instructional Designer III
The Morrill Act of 1862 was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln and allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in the United States using the proceeds of federal land sales.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Leadership Team
- Dean / School of Medicine
Amy Waer, MD, was appointed dean of the School of Medicine January 1, 2021. Before that, she had served as interim dean since September 2019 while continuing in her role in education and academic programs, leading medical education planning and delivery for the college.
Dr. Waer received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Arizona. She joined Texas A&M University after several decades of surgical experience and medical education expertise, from private group general surgery practice in Virginia followed by 14 years at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and College of Medicine in Tucson, Arizona. Her research and clinical interests have focused on surgery, surgical education and breast surgery. More specifically, her research has centered on breast cancer prevention and early detection.
Additionally, Dr. Waer has experience in rural health professions programs. She oversaw the Rural Health Professions Program at the University of Arizona for five years, traveling throughout Arizona conducting site visits and recruiting for the rural faculty preceptors.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Managing Counsel for Health Affairs
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Clinical and Professional Affairs
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor, Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology / Associate Director, Texas a & M College of Medicine MD / PhD Program
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Associate Vice President for Community Partnerships at Texas a & M
- Associate Vice President, Community Partnerships
Chad Wootton serves as associate vice president for community partnerships at Texas A&M Health. In this role, he works closely with health science center and university administration to facilitate engagement efforts in community and economic development, partnership services, leadership initiatives, global engagement and continuing education for constituents of Texas A&M Health.
He is a 1996 graduate of Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University. In his career, he has led teams of experienced and capable organizers and relationship managers, who provide services to faculty, colleges, university administration and community partners.
Over a 29 year career, Wootton has served in various roles including Texas Agriculture Extension Service, 4H & Youth Development, Texas A&M Foundation, Office of The President and Office of the Provost (Chief Academic Officer). He has supported program development, project management, strategic initiatives, major gift solicitation, campaign planning, donor stewardship, continuing education and international partnership processes.
He serves on the McAllen Economic Development Corporation, in addition to numerous volunteer roles with civic organizations across Texas, including Past Treasurer of the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation, Greater Houston Partnership, Rio Grande Valley Partnership, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce and McAllen Chamber of Commerce.
Job Titles:
- Director Clinical Learning Resource Center
Job Titles:
- Program Manager, Foundational IPE Curriculum
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean, Academic Affairs
Job Titles:
- Instructional Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice
Job Titles:
- Director of Evaluation and Assessment, Instructional Assistant
Job Titles:
- Board Member of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education
- Interim Chief Operating Officer and Vice President
- Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences / Interim Chief Operating Officer and Vice President, Texas a & M
Indra K. Reddy, PhD, serves as interim chief operating officer and vice president at Texas A&M Health.
Previous to his current position, he served as professor and founding dean of the Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel School of Pharmacy. He was named Founding Dean Emeritus of the Rangel School of Pharmacy in 2024 in recognition of his dedicated and honorable service to Texas A&M University during his 20-year tenure as founding dean of the school.
Prior to joining The Texas A&M University System in 2004, Dr. Reddy was professor and co-chair of pharmaceutical sciences and professor of ophthalmology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has also held the positions of professor of pharmaceutics at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Amarillo, Texas, and Pfizer Endowed Professor of Pharmaceutics at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, School of Pharmacy.
Dr. Reddy received his doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1989. He received his Master of Science in pharmaceutics from Sagar University in Sagar, India, in 1984, and his Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from Kakatiya University in Warangal, India, in 1982. Following completion of his doctorate, Dr. Reddy received a post-doctoral fellowship to study at the Center for Drug Design and Delivery at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
In 2004, Dr. Reddy completed the Universities and Health-Related Institutions (UHRI) Senior Fellowship Program at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in Austin. He also completed the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education Management Development Program in 2005 and their Management and Leadership in Education Program in 2010. Dr. Reddy was awarded a fellowship by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006, an opportunity that allowed him to interact with the FDA researchers in an advisory capacity.
Dr. Reddy is a board member of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education (NIPTE) and the Global Institute for Hispanic Health. He presently serves on the editorial boards of four international pharmacy journals and as a reviewer for more than a dozen scientific/pharmacy journals. He holds membership in numerous professional organizations and has been appointed an International Commissioner for the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education through their International Service Program through 2019.
Dr. Reddy has done innovative work in the areas of ophthalmic and transdermal drug design/ development and delivery. He has authored/co-authored six textbooks; written 13 book chapters; edited two reference books; and published more than 100 research and review articles. Among the books are Ocular Therapeutics and Drug Delivery: A Multi Disciplinary Approach, Pharmaceutical and Clinical Calculations, and Essential Math and Calculations for Pharmacy Technicians. His most recent publication is Chirality in Drug Design and Development, a book co-edited with Dr. Reza Mehvar.
Dr. Reddy's primary research interests include the design of novel ocular drugs and delivery systems; the development, preformulation and evaluation of controlled, targeted and site-specific chemical delivery systems; and the development of cell culture models as alternatives to animal testing. He is also interested in active, student-centered learning strategies and the assessment of learning outcomes.
Dr. Reddy is the recipient of many awards and accolades for his teaching, research and service. He is a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS) and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). He was named Teacher of the Year five times at three different universities. He received excellence in research awards from the University of Florida (1988), AAPS (1988), and APhA (2010). He was awarded the CenturyTel Accent on Excellence Award in Northeast Louisiana in 2000 and the Outstanding Service Award by the Texas Optometric Association in 2001. In 2014, Dr. Reddy received the Outstanding Pharmacy Alumnus Award from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director for Assessment and Research
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Medical Education
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Associate Vice President of Digital Health at Texas a & M Health
- Associate Vice President, Digital
Biography
Jim Colson serves as associate vice president of digital health at Texas A&M Health. As part of this role, Colson is responsible for identifying, implementing and deploying state-of-the-art digital health platforms that help the organization to realize the unbound opportunities and operational synergies of stakeholder partnerships both internally and externally.
Colson has more than 25 years of industry related experience in creating, delivering and operating transformative and solution-oriented digital architectures and platforms. He most recently served as the chief technology officer and vice president of Cubic Corporation, a technology-driven provider of integrated solutions, where he was responsible for defining and driving forward-thinking digital architectures and platforms. Prior to that, Colson retired from IBM as an IBM Fellow and vice president and worldwide chief technology officer for the AI and ML infused Watson Customer Engagement portfolio.
Colson chaired the worldwide software architecture board and served as one of the 10 technical strategy team advisors to the chief executive officer of IBM. After his IBM career and prior to joining Cubic, Colson was a strategy and portfolio transformation consultant for several Fortune 100 SaaS, Cloud, IoT and infrastructure companies. He continues to serve as an advisor to multiple startups.
Colson holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and master's degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering from the University of Texas, Austin.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Assistant Vice President for Development for Texas a & M
- Assistant Vice President, Development
Karen Slater is the assistant vice president for development for Texas A&M Health. Slater works closely with university faculty and leadership to design and implement fundraising strategy and development programs in support of the major gift fundraising goals for the five colleges comprising Texas A&M Health: the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the Rangel College of Pharmacy, the College of Dentistry, and the School of Public Health.
Prior to joining the Texas A&M Foundation in 2016, Karen worked in the nonprofit sector overseeing program management and philanthropy. Karen received her Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Texas A&M University in 1988 and is currently pursuing a certificate in non-profit management from the Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Assistant Vice President, Government Relations
- Associate Vice President of Government Relations for Texas a & M
- Associate Vice President, Government Relations
Kyler Ramsey is the associate vice president of government relations for Texas A&M Health and assistant vice chancellor for strategic initiatives for The Texas A&M University System. Ramsey oversees state and federal government relations and activities of Texas A&M Health in collaboration with all five colleges, the university and the system, including the other regional Texas A&M universities.
Prior to joining Texas A&M Health, Ramsey served in the Office of the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives as the budget and policy advisor on health and human services, and held various positions in the Texas Legislature, including serving as the budget analyst on health and human services for the House Appropriations Committee and as the health policy analyst for former State Senator Robert Duncan.
Ramsey received her Bachelor of Arts in international studies from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, and her Master of Arts in international affairs from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Assistant Professor / Department of Comprehensive Dentistry
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Leadership Team
- Dean / School of Nursing
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Leadership Team
- Dean / College of Dentistry
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Leadership Team
- Acting Dean / Rangel School of Pharmacy
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs
Biography
Mr. Mario Rojo del Busto joined Texas A&M University in 2001. He is currently serving as Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs at Texas A&M University. At Texas A&M Health, Mr. Rojo
del Busto serves as Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs. In this role Mr. Rojo del Busto works with academic affairs and faculty affairs leadership in our schools to guide and support faculty and programs of Texas A&M Health in matters pertaining to faculty recruitment, hiring, onboarding, retention, evaluation, promotion and tenure, grievances, and complaints against faculty members. Mr. Rojo del Busto is the liaison with the Office of General Counsel on all faculty affairs related matters. Additionally, he is responsible for directing the University's nonimmigrant and immigrant faculty, scholar, and staff employment caseload, including the Galveston and Qatar campuses, and providing assistance to 18 TAMUS members (universities and agencies) regarding immigration employment matters.
Prior to his current roles, Mr. Rojo del Busto held the positions of Vice Dean and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the School of Medicine and Associate Dean of Faculties.
Mr. Rojo del Busto is in possession of two law degrees. A European law degree issued by the University Complutense de Madrid, Spain, and a Masters of Law in Business, Taxation, and Transnational Practice, from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Dean for Distant Site - Round Rock
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Assistant Vice President, Compliance and Risk Management
- Executive Committee
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Graduate Nursing Education
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Leader
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Associate Vice President, University Health Services
Fahrenwald is an accomplished executive leader and scholar with a reputation of excellence in higher education, academic nursing, health innovation, health disparities research and clinical practice. Her board certification as an advanced public health nurse makes her uniquely position to lead prevention and population health initiatives in college health. As an Professor in the College of Nursing and former Dean she is a highly regarded as a service-oriented, mission-focused and collaborative leader with experience on state, regional and national boards.
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President
- Chief of Staff
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Chief of Staff and Associate Vice President of Texas a & M
Olga Rodriguez serves as chief of staff and associate vice president of Texas A&M Health. In this role, she provides leadership and strategic counsel regarding innovation, development and oversight of the strategic health care finance and health care delivery system growth across the Texas A&M Health colleges, and oversees academic operations, campus operations and information technology.
Rodriguez has more than 20 years of experience leading change inside federal and state government as well as non-profit organizations. She has served in leadership positions at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and was a key advisor on health care policy, operations and finance. Rodriguez has also held leadership positions at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Office of the Inspector General, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Association of Community Health Centers.
Rodriguez has extensive experience working with health care delivery stakeholders in Texas to transform health care policy and finance including managed care organizations, health care provider associations, hospitals, clinics and individual providers. In her role as deputy Medicaid and CHIP director for policy, Rodriguez designed, developed and operationalized new programs and health care delivery models while working with federal partners and state partners to develop the most cost-effective way to fund these new programs.
Job Titles:
- Instructional Assistant Professor
Job Titles:
- Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Job Titles:
- Clinical Assistant Professor and Associate Department Head
Job Titles:
- Clinical Associate Professor
- Director of Clinical Skills
Job Titles:
- Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Associate Vice President of Clinical Initiatives
Scott Fuller, FACHE, oversees the clinical initiatives and commercial real estate activities of Texas A&M Health in collaboration with all five colleges. Fuller works directly on the strategic vision for the clinical enterprise that builds on the strengths and opportunities of our current clinical structure and creates innovations that will embrace the future of health care delivery. Fuller serves as a member of the leadership team of Texas A&M Health, working closely with the deans as well as clinical and research leaders.
Prior to his current role, Fuller served in a multitude of leadership positions across Ascension Texas and Seton spanning executive management, joint ventures and clinical operations. He also held leadership roles across other health care organizations, including assistant executive director for financial planning at Scott & White Health System and director of strategic and financial planning at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Fuller also spent time as an investment banker with Shattuck Hammond Partners where he focused on health care related merger, acquisition and divestiture transactions as well as the issuance of tax-exempt debt for his clients.
Fuller received a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He also received a Master of Health Services Administration from Arizona State University, College of Business in Tempe, Arizona. Scott has also attained Fellow status within the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Job Titles:
- Dean
- Member of the Academic Leadership Team
- Dean / School of Public
Biography
Shawn G. Gibbs, PhD, MBA, CIH joined Texas A&M University on May 1, 2020, as Dean of the School of Public Health. Dr. Gibbs is an industrial hygienist whose expertise is in the disruption of highly infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and Ebola virus disease. He is dedicated to public service and improving health and well-being nationally, including in the state of Texas.
Dr. Gibbs has over a hundred peer reviewed articles in industrial hygiene and environmental exposure assessment, focusing on environmental microbiology and disrupting transmission of highly infectious diseases. His research has helped to determine national policies, procedures, and best practices for responders and healthcare workers to safely treat patients with Ebola virus disease, COVID-19, and other highly infectious diseases. Dr. Gibbs is sought after to lend guidance to national and international organizations, such as his appointment to the United States Environmental Protection Agency Board of Scientific Counselors-Homeland Security Subcommittee as well as work with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command.
Dr. Gibbs' research and teaching have been recognized with several awards, including 2018 American Industrial Hygiene Association's Edward J. Baier Technical Achievement Award, 2017 Biomedical Research Exemplar Award, 2015 Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska for service to the State, and 2006-2007 U.S. Fulbright Faculty Scholar to Egypt. He has subsequently lead three (Libya in 2013, Egypt in 2016 and 2017) Institutional Fulbright Faculty Scholars training programs for Public Health Curriculum Development.
Dr. Gibbs obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology at The Ohio State University. While working as a contractor for the USEPA, he attended the University of Cincinnati (UC) where he was awarded a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering, and then a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science. While serving as Associate Dean at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) he completed his MBA in Agribusiness from the University of Nebraska.
His first tenure track position was with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston at their El Paso regional campus, where he served as co-director of two Cores of the Hispanic Health Disparities Research Center. He then went to the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he served as Director of Masters Programs and then Associate Dean of Student Affairs. There he worked with the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU) as Director of Research. As one of only three such facilities in the country at the time, the NBU became critical to the fight against Ebola. Their team designed quarantine, isolation, personal protective equipment (PPE), other policies and procedures, and provided international training and evaluation to first responders, including the military, and others who have direct or indirect patient contact. Additionally, they perform decontamination research to assist with shortages in PPE. These procedures again became critical to the response of COVID-19. UNMC was a founding organization of the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, formerly the National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC), and Dr. Gibbs maintains affiliations with both NETEC and NBU. Dr. Gibbs then went to Indiana University to serve as Executive Associate Dean of the School of Public Health.
While at Indiana University, he also held several interim roles, including Associate Dean for Research. He developed a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) training grant that resulted into the Biosafety and Infectious Disease Training Initiative, a partnership with several nationally recognized organizations, including the University of Texas Health School of Public Health, to deliver national trainings on infectious disease. This merged into a continuing partnership with the UTHealth led Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (P2R) Consortium a NIESH funded Worker Training Program, a relationship that has continued through his return to Texas.
As Dean of the School of Public Health, Dr Gibbs assumed leadership of a School committed to transforming health through interdisciplinary inquiry, innovative solutions and development of leaders through the Aggie tradition of service to engage diverse communities worldwide. He joins the SPH at a time where the importance of public health is at the forefront as Texas, national, and the global communities battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The SPH faculty, students, and staff are united and mobilized to work with partners across Texas A&M and the Health Science Center to address these needs by applying practical solutions based in public health science.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Texas a & M
- Assistant Vice President, Marketing and Communications
- Member of the Leadership Team for Texas a & M
Sloane Williams is the assistant vice president of marketing and communications for Texas A&M Health. With more than 12 years of experience, Williams provides leadership across Texas A&M Health, and in collaboration with the five colleges, on strategic communications, integrated marketing, public and media relations, community outreach, branding, digital media, events, strategic planning and change management.
Williams serves as a member of the leadership team for Texas A&M Health. Specifically, she focuses on aggregating, interpreting, analyzing and communicating across multiple collaborative efforts to lead in structural change, visibility, growth and profitability of the institution.
Before joining Texas A&M Health in 2013, Williams consulted and worked in the nonprofit sector to establish positive economic development and drive economic vitality through integrated business development and marketing and communications efforts with some of the nation's premier sporting organizations, including the United States Olympic Committee, and national and international sports governing organizations. Additionally, Williams has provided consulting services for nonprofit organizations and public and private entities in the areas of strategic planning and execution, strategic communications, marketing, public relations, change management, operations and experiential customer success initiatives. Williams holds a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator