President Shane Reese appointed Brad Neiger as the acting academic vice president while the search for the next academic vice president continues. Neiger has been serving as the associate academic vice president for faculty relations since 2018.
Neiger has been at BYU since 1997. He served as the inaugural director of the Master of Public Health Program, as chair of the Department of Health Science (now the Department of Public Health), and as an associate dean in the College of Life Sciences. Prior to his appointment as AAVP for Faculty Relations, he served as AAVP for Undergraduate Studies. He received continuing faculty status and was promoted to the rank of professor in 2003.
Prior to his arrival at BYU, Dr. Neiger worked for 13 years in various public health settings, including director of health promotion at both the Davis County Health Department and the Utah Department of Health. He is a past president of the Health Education Association of Utah and the Utah Public Health Association. In 2003, he was awarded the Catherine Summerhays Distinguished Service Award by the Health Education Association of Utah, its highest award. In 2014, he was awarded the Theodore B. Beatty Award by the Utah Public Health Association, its highest award for achievement in public health. In 2007, Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. appointed him to serve a four-year term on the Utah Health Advisory Council.
Dr. Neiger received BS and MS degrees in health science from Brigham Young University and a PhD in health education from the University of Utah. His research interests include use of social media and social marketing to improve public health practice. His primary teaching assignments have related to program planning and evaluation in public health settings.
Dr. Neiger and his wife Sherry (B.S. in early childhood and elementary education, BYU), are the parents of three children. In their spare time, the Neigers enjoy taking long walks, spending time at the beach, and investing in the lives of their three grandchildren. They are avid New York Yankees fans.