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TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 20, 2008) – USF appoints leading researcher to develop global initiatives

Anthropologist Linda Whiteford named Associate VP for Global Strategies and International Affairs

Group PhotoThe University of South Florida has appointed an award winning teacher and researcher as its new head of global initiatives. Linda Whiteford, PhD, MPH, has been appointed to the newly created position of Associate Vice President for Global Strategies and International Affairs, reporting to USF President Judy Genshaft.

"The university of the future will be a global university," Dr. Genshaft said. "Linda Whiteford is the perfect person to develop and lead our efforts in global research and learning. She’s an expert in her own right and an advocate for USF’s role as a global university.

“This new position is part of our efforts to organize the university’s leadership around our strategic goals, and USF’s role in the world is a central goal.”
Dr. Whiteford will continue to hold her current title, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, with responsibility for sustainability and community initiatives.
“We want to make a real difference in the global quality of the education our students receive at USF,” Dr. Whiteford said. “One immediate initiative is creating the USF World Task Force with Dr. Donna Petersen, the Dean of the College of Public Health, where we look forward to developing exciting opportunities for both students and faculty.”

As Associate Vice President for Global Strategies and International Affairs, she will also be responsible for:

  • Stimulating new opportunities for international students and scholars and for the university’s students and faculty who go abroad as international students and scholars;

  • Creating strategic opportunities to collaborate with international universities;

  • Initiating and promoting contract and grant activities and development successes that support the university’s global strategy;

  • Sharing information, coordinating the university’s international activities, and

  • Developing a repository of shared information.

Dr. Whiteford is a medical anthropologist whose work has taken place in Ecuador, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Cameroon, China, Malaysia, England, Scotland, and Argentina. Much of her work has focused on maternal/child and reproductive health, water scarcity and water-borne diseases such as cholera and dengue fever, and most recently, human health during and following disasters such as volcanic eruptions. Dr. Whiteford has been a consultant for organizations such as the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Canadian Agency for International Development. And, in 2003, she was elected President of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
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