Rosemary Thackeray was appointed assistant to the president for assessment and planning July 8, 2019. In this role, she oversees university accreditation, institutional research and assessment, the university’s continuous improvement process, and annual strategic resource planning.
She is also a professor of public health and has taught graduate courses in survey and research methods and undergraduate courses in evaluation methods, health communication, social marketing and women’s health.
Thackeray served as an associate department chair in the BYU Department of Public Health from 2015 to 2018. In this role, she led a faculty team through the department’s first systematic, in-depth analysis of the curricular structure and course offerings in over 28 years. The three-year process resulted in a new curriculum that aligned with The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Framing the Future undergraduate education framework and the public health discipline-specific, competency-based frameworks. She also served as an associate dean in the College of Life Sciences from 2018-2019 where she oversaw graduate studies, college communications and student mentoring initiatives.
Prior to joining the BYU faculty, Thackeray was employed for nine years at the Utah Department of Health, Bureau of Health Education. In these positions was responsible for program planning and evaluation of several public health programs. She also worked part-time as a health educator with Salt Lake Community Health Centers, and FHP Health Care. In 2006, Thackeray spent a sabbatical year working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Marketing in Atlanta, GA.
She earned a B.S. in Community Health Education from Utah State University and M.P.H. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Utah.