COVID on Campus: How Higher Ed is Adapting

On June 1, 2018, Dr. Gloria J. Gibson started her first day as the seventh president of Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. A native of East St. Louis, Illinois, she came to Northeastern from Morgan State University in Baltimore, an Historically Black University and College, where she served as provost and senior vice president for the Division of Academic Affairs. She also served in various administrative roles at Indiana University-Bloomington, Arkansas State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

Gibson’s educational journey began with both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in music education from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. She then earned a Ph.D. in Folklore with a concentration in ethnomusicology from Indiana University – Bloomington.

While at Northeastern, a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution and Minority Serving Institution, President Gibson’s focus has been to provide access and opportunity to all students and to make sure they have support services in place to promote their success. As a first generation college graduate herself, Gibson strives to inspire students in Chicago and beyond, to understand a degree is obtainable and will change the trajectory of one’s life. She works to help Northeastern reach its full potential and to honor its mission to “prepare a diverse community of students for leadership and service in our region and in a dynamic multicultural world.”

Wayne H. Giles, MD, MS is Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to joining UIC in September of 2017, he was the Director of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He also led the Division of Population Health at CDC, one of CDC’s most diverse divisions with programmatic and research activities in community health promotion, arthritis, aging, health care utilization, and racial and ethnic disparities in health. His past work experience has included studies examining the prevalence of hypertension in Africa, clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of cholesterol-lowering agents, and studies examining racial differences in the incidence of stroke. He has over 150 publications in peer reviewed journals and has authored several book chapters. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Charles C. Shepard Award in Assessment and Epidemiology and the Jeffrey P. Koplan Award.

Dr. Giles, holds a BA (Biology) from Washington University, a MS (Epidemiology) from the University of Maryland, and an MD from Washington University, and has completed residencies in both Internal Medicine (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Preventive Medicine (University of Maryland).

Joan Holden has been with Loyola University Chicago for 20 years, and has served as the Director of the Wellness Center for 4 years.  She also currently serves as the Health Officer for the Management, Policy and Command extended team for Loyola’s response to the pandemic.  Joan is a doctorally prepared nurse practitioner, and is responsible for managing the Wellness Center.  Her duties as Health Officer involve providing guidance to executive leadership regarding health matters during the pandemic.  In her free time, Joan enjoys spending time with her family on their small organic farm in central Illinois.