The University of Kentucky College of Medicine is excited to announce that Craig Rush, PhD, longtime professor of behavioral science, has taken the role of assistant dean for faculty affairs, a new position created to fulfill the expansion of duties within the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development (OFA).
In this position, Dr. Rush will collaborate across the College of Medicine and UK HealthCare to implement a faculty support, coaching, and remediation program; monitor additional programs to ensure compliance; develop strategies for faculty recruitment and retention; lead new faculty orientation and onboarding; and report on trends of faculty demographics. Along with OFA leadership, Dr. Rush will work closely with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on these goals.
Dr. Rush possesses a strong track record of promoting faculty development. Along with serving as a mentor for UK faculty for over 20 years, he has recently helped colleagues grow through participation in OFA’s new career and faculty development sessions, which are presentations led by faculty to assist peers with career skills. Dr. Rush held sessions about best practices for obtaining R01 grants.
Dr. Rush is a professor of behavioral science with joint appointments in psychiatry and psychology. He has been a University Research Professor since 2008. He is also the director of the UK Human Behavioral Performance Laboratory, a leadership position he has held since 1999.
As a scientist, Dr. Rush’s primary areas of study include pharmacological and behavioral solutions to substance abuse, specifically methamphetamine and alcohol. He has served as principal or co-investigator on more than 50 related studies, and he has contributed to more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He served as vice chair for research in the psychiatry department from 2016-2022 and director of graduate studies in the behavioral science department from 2011-2012.
Before joining the UK faculty in 1999, Dr. Rush served as associate professor in the University of Mississippi Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. He earned his PhD at the University of Vermont, where he also completed a graduate research fellowship, followed by the completion of a postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral pharmacology of drug abuse at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.