We Have a New Incoming Director!

After an extensive search process, we are pleased to announce that Dr. Astrid Brousselle will be the next Director of the School of Public Administration, starting on December 1, 2017.

Dr. Brousselle‘s current research focus is on influencing the implementation of more sustainable, equitable, and healthy societies in the context of the climate change challenge and reconciliation, an agenda informed by her long-time interest and practice in health system analysis, engaged scholarship and community-based research.  Her research program focusses on evaluation using qualitative methods, including user-focused and participatory approaches, as well as public health and health systems analysis. She has won several research grants and awards as a principal investigator and co-investigator, receiving awards for her research. Dr. Brousselle has an impressive publication track record flowing from collaborative multi-disciplinary research initiatives, and a strong track record of communicating findings to practitioners and the public with media interviews, accessible publications, a successful textbook on evaluation, and many op-ed contributions to newspapers. Over the years, her teaching has focused on evaluation theory and methods, economic evaluation, and contemporary issues in health systems.

Dr. Brousselle is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Community Health Services in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke. She holds a B.Sc. in Economics (Montreal), M.Sc. in Health Administration (Montreal), and Ph.D. in Public Health (Montreal). She held a post-doctoral appointment at McGill University specializing in evaluation theories and methods and was then appointed as an Assistant Professor in the University of Montreal’s Department of Health Administration. She received funding from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé as a Young Investigator (FRQ-S, 2006 – 2015) and later held a CIHR-FRQ-S Canada Research Chair from 2011-16.  Dr. Brousselle has served as Vice-Director of Research, Community Health Sciences Department, University of Sherbrooke, and Co-Director of the ‘Health: Population, Organizations and Practices (S-POP)’ research group at the University of Sherbrooke. During 2013-14 she spent her research leave in the Faculty of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria, so she is familiar with the School of Public Administration and its larger administrative context.

We are looking forward to the School’s leadership under Dr. Brousselle: not only does she bring her expertise in user-oriented and participatory approaches to evaluation, but she has extensive experience in working in multi-disciplinary and applied contexts, similar to those of the School.

Welcome, Astrid!