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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University will hold an open house to celebrate its newest college, the College of Health and Human Sciences, this Wednesday, March 13, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the lobby of the Women's Building. The event is free and open to the public.

Tammy Bray, who will assume the duties as dean of the college in September, will be on campus for the open house. She is a professor of nutrition and associate dean of research in the College of Human Ecology at Ohio State University.

The college was formed by integrating many of the programs from two former academic units - the College of Home Economics and Education and the College of Health and Human Performance. The new college will focus on health, nutrition and fitness education and research throughout the lifespan. Its establishment was formally approved in February by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education.

"At the national level, there hasn't been a clear linkage between nutrition, fitness and health," said Clara Pratt, co-interim dean of the new college. "Nutrition and health are, of course, linked as are fitness and health. But few programs look at the intersection of all three of those areas and OSU is positioned to become a national leader in this important area."

Those aspirations received a significant boost when the university appointed Bray as dean of the new college, said Jeff McCubbin, co-interim dean.

"Tammy Bray really is a national leader in the field," McCubbin said. "Her area of research, the role of antioxidants in health and disease, dovetails nicely with the work done on campus at OSU's Linus Pauling Institute. She's just a great fit for this new college."

Bray has been on the Ohio State faculty since 1995. She previously was on the faculty of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, for 17 years. During her career, she has attracted more than $8 million in externally funded research grants.

The open house will feature remarks by Bray, Pratt, McCubbin, OSU President Paul Risser, OSU Provost Tim White, and others. Several labs and other facilities in the Women's Building will be open for tours.

The new College of Health and Human Sciences will include approximately 2,100 undergraduate majors, 250 graduate students, and 85 on-campus faculty.