From student to scholar to professor and department chair, Dr. Kara Zografos’ history with Fresno State dates back nearly 20 years. Now she will usher in a new era as dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Fresno State. She has served as interim dean of the college since fall 2023.

“I am confident Dr. Zografos will continue to provide outstanding leadership to the College of Health and Human Services, the university and its community,” said Dr. Xuanning Fu, Fresno State’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “Dr. Zografos has devoted all of her professional career to Fresno State and, as such, has a deep appreciation for the university’s mission and values, and is dedicated to advancing the college in preparing the next generation of leaders to address the critical issues in health and human services in our region and beyond.”

A two-time Fresno State alumna, Zografos earned her bachelor’s degree in health science, with an option in community health in 1999 and later earned her Master of Public Health degree from the university in 2002 before heading to Southern California where she completed her doctorate of health education, with an emphasis in epidemiology, from Loma Linda University.

Zografos excelled at Loma Linda University, receiving the Chancellor’s Award in 2006. Toward the end of her four-year doctorate program, she returned to the Central Valley for her dissertation research on asthma and started teaching public health courses at Fresno State part-time before applying for a full-time position in 2007.

Coming Home

Her family and love of the Valley, as well as a deep-rooted desire to serve the university where she earned her undergraduate education, is ultimately what led Zografos back to Fresno State. Over the past 18 years, Zografos has worked up the ranks within the Department of Public Health from lecturer to full professor, where she also served as director of the Master of Public Health program and as department chair for seven years.

In her last two years as department chair, Zografos concurrently took on a new leadership opportunity as special assistant to then dean, Dr. Denise Seabert. In that role, Zografos led many important college-wide initiatives, including formalizing policies and procedures around college committees, teaching assignments of honors program courses and scholarships — in addition to mentoring faculty in grant programs.

As interim dean, Zografos played a vital role as the college assessment coordinator, helping many programs achieve successful accreditation and site visit feedback. She also remained committed to work around diversity, equity, and inclusion, which led to various college-wide training opportunities for faculty and staff. As a former faculty member, Zografos remained committed to faculty success and aided in efforts to support faculty with research and grants, as well as serving as a mentor.

Her efforts to grow the nursing workforce in the region led to an inaugural partnership with the School of Nursing at Fresno State and Valley Children’s Hospital to create a hospital-based ASN-to-BSN cohort, which allows registered nurses at Valley Children’s the opportunity to earn their bachelor’s degrees in nursing at Fresno State, while continuing to serve the local pediatric population.

Through a San Joaquin Valley grant, aimed at K-16 initiatives, Zografos helped build partnerships with K-12 schools and community colleges to create new and/or strengthen transfer pathways, ensuring preparedness for transfer students specifically interested in careers within health and human services.

Goals as Dean

In her new dean role, Zografos said she has a few goals in mind — lead with compassion while prioritizing the success of the more than 4,000 students in the college and broaden the college’s reputation as a premier higher education institution.

The College of Health and Human Services prepares students for professions in communicative sciences and deaf studies, kinesiology, nursing, physical therapy, public health, recreation administration, and social work; and also houses both the Air Force ROTC and Army ROTC programs, as well as five interdisciplinary research centers and institutes. Two of the three doctoral programs at the university exist within the college.

Zografos said she plans to work closely with each academic department and school to implement high-impact experiences for all students to ensure they are career-ready by the time they graduate. In addition, she intends to meet the growing health care needs of the region and aspires to create an occupational therapy doctorate program, as well as a certified registered nurse anesthetist program for the School of Nursing.

“As dean, I look forward to contributing to Fresno State’s mission by fostering a dynamic and inclusive academic environment,” Zografos said. “As an alumna and previous first-generation student, I appreciate the transformative power of higher education and am deeply committed to ensuring our students have access to opportunities that empower them to succeed.”