A public health practitioner who has worked extensively in education has been appointed as UC Riverside’s assistant vice chancellor for Health, Counseling & Wellness.

Denise Woods-Bevly will join the campus Sept. 3. She is currently director of Student Wellness and the Basic Needs Initiative at California State University, Office of the Chancellor. In that role, she provides oversight to wellness, mental health, food, and housing programs for 23 campuses statewide.

“Dr. Woods-Bevly is a national leader on basic needs and student well-being in higher education,” said Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Brian Haynes. “We are excited that she is joining the UCR Division of Student Affairs.”

Woods-Bevly said she looks forward to listening to students and understanding their concerns about how health and wellness are being integrated within the campus community.

"I'm really excited about joining the UCR team and working with campus stakeholders to integrate a holistic approach to health and wellness for our students and entire campus community," she said.

Prior to joining California State University in 2016, Woods-Bevly served as senior manager for Beach Cities Health District where she directed health education and nutrition programs for 22 K-12 schools and 11 preschools. 

She worked at UCLA from 2007-14, first as a policy analyst, and later as project manager of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health project through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant. The project focused on chronic disease prevention and community-based participatory research in 13 under-resourced communities across the country.

Woods-Bevly received a doctorate in public health from UCLA. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications management from USC. She received a basketball scholarship to USC and played professionally overseas after graduation.