University | 3:51 pm | January 30, 2013 | By

Psychology professor Brownell named dean of Duke

Psychology professor Kelly Brownell will leave the University after this semester to become the dean of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke President Richard Brodhead ’68 GRD ’72 and Provost Peter Lange announced Wednesday.

Brownell currently teaches the popular “Psychology, Biology and Politics of Food” lecture and serves as the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, which he co-founded in 2005.

“[Brownell] will keep the Sanford School strong on campus while building bridges to the larger society,” Brodhead said in a news release from Duke on Wednesday, adding that Brownell is “the major public voice on obesity.”

Brownell’s work on nutrition and obesity as they relate to public policy makes him a leading figure in a field in which he has received many accolades, including being named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2006. Brownell has also advised the White House and other policymakers about obesity and nutrition.

At Yale, Brownell served as chair of the Psychology Department from 2003 to 2006 and master of Silliman College from 1994 to 2000.

Duke may be making a habit of hiring Yale faculty — Brodhead was the dean of Yale College when he was named the president of Duke in 2004.

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