Wes Dudgeon

Wes Dudgeon was appointed interim dean in charge of launching the new School of Health Sciences at College of Charleston. In this role, the focus of his efforts will be to develop novel undergraduate programs that will complement the existing public health and exercise science majors.

As the new school takes shape, Dudgeon will work with community partners to enhance the experiential learning opportunities available to health science students, both locally and abroad. Taken together, these efforts will prepare undergraduate students to be industry leaders in improving health outcomes, be it as practioners, researchers or healthcare providers.

As chair of Health & Human Performance (HEHP) at the College, Dudgeon led a department of 800 students and 18 faculty across four different academic majors. During his five years as chair, HEHP absorbed the B.A. in public health degree program and made curricular changes to all majors to better serve student interests and needs. The Physical Education Activity Program also flourished to the point of nearly 20% of the CofC student body annually enrolling in physical education activity courses. He was also instrumental in developing new staff lines, including the HEHP internship coordinator and HEHP lab manager to increase the focus on advising and experiential learning.

As a scholar, Dudgeon’s academic pursuits have covered the spectrum of human health. His early career focused on elucidating the impacts of exercise training on persons living with HIV. These efforts led to federal grant funding and numerous conference presentations and joural publications. Recently, his work has focused on improving health/fitness in young adult females via various exercise and nutritional interventions. His research interests complement his teaching in courses such as exercise physiology and sport & exercise nutrition.