Esther Kim appointed dean of the faculty of rehabilitation medicine

In a statement on March 16, Provost and Vice-President (academic) Verna Yiu announced that Esther Kim has been appointed as the new dean of the faculty of rehabilitation medicine. Her five-year term begins on July 1. 

Kim has been serving as the interim dean of the faculty of rehabilitation medicine since April 2025. Her research focuses on outcome improvement for people with aphasia and other communication disorders. 

As interim dean, Kim has collaborated with the faculty as a whole to develop the new faculty strategic plan. The plan has six strategic priorities that the faculty will focus on.

“It’s the ideas of the people in the faculty, and it isn’t the dean coming in and saying, we’re going to do this or that, the dean is really shepherding what the faculty comes up with together as in these are our priorities, [and] this is what we want to work on,” said Kim. 

The faculty strategic plan and Kim’s goals for her role as dean

Kim discussed how one goal for the role is to make the impacts of the faculty more well-known. “We can really elevate the work … we are doing through the stories … [of] people who have been impacted by that work,” Kim added.

In alignment with the strategic plan, Kim aims to focus on increasing the learning experiences of students within the faculty. She hopes to innovate ways to train students through reimagining care, learning, and discovery. As well as the collaboration of speech pathology, occupational therapy, and physical therapy disciplines.

Another priority of the faculty strategic plan is “around committing to equity-informed, community-driven health innovation,” said Kim. The faculty hopes to provide students with experiences and clinical training to deliver culturally safe health-care services to Indigenous communities.

Tammy Hopper, the predecessor to Kim, participated in various initiatives. One being the Black Academic Excellence Cohort Hire Initiative at the institutional level. Kim shared that the faculty now has a Black Rehabilitation Medicine Students’ Association, organized by the students, but with support from Victor Ezeugwu, one of the cohort hires.

Additionally, she plans on continuing Hopper’s work with Indigenous initiatives and strengthening the faculty’s partnerships with “Saddle Lake Cree Nation, Paul First Nation, Maskwacis Cree Nations, and Enoch Cree Nation.” Furthering these partnerships “will be a priority for us moving forward,” said Kim.

Kim added that the work has been “really eye opening for me and exciting for me as I think about … committing to this work.”