Public health associate professor Alicia Dahl awarded Early‑Career Teaching Professorship

April 29, 2026

Alicia Dahl, associate professor at the College of Health and Human Services, is the 2026 recipient of UNC Charlotte’s Bonnie E. Cone Early-Career Professorship in Teaching. Dahl was honored April 28 at the Spring Faculty Awards ceremony held at the Barnhardt Student Activity Center.

Named after UNC Charlotte’s founder, the Bonnie E. Cone Early-Career Professorship in Teaching is awarded annually to a faculty member who has received tenure within the last three years and has exhibited excellent teaching capabilities during the first half of their academic journey.

Alicia Dahl teaching students in the Public Health and Health Systems Management Honors program

“In every dimension that the Bonnie E. Cone Early-Career Professorship in Teaching emphasizes — innovative teaching techniques, curricular leadership, rigorous and equitable assessment and outstanding advising/mentoring — Alicia Dahl has delivered exceptional early-career impact,” said Yvette Huet, dean of the College of Health and Human Services. “Her courses are thoughtfully designed, her assessment practices are robust, her mentorship record is both broad and deep and her curricular leadership has already shaped pathways for honors students and strengthened our programs.”

Dahl joined the College of Health and Human Services in 2018 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2024. She serves as the inaugural director of the Public Health and Health Systems Management Honors program.

Dahl has taught courses across all of the college’s major Public Health programs including Behavior Change Theories and Practice, Public Health Education and Promotion, and Community Health Planning and Evaluation. She delivers coursework beyond the college, as an instructor of the honors course, The Pursuit of Happiness for Health.

Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber, Alicia Dahl and Provost Jennifer Troyer

Her teaching is informed by the best practices she learned through participation in UNC Charlotte’s Active Learning Academy. Her course assignments engage learners in high-impact educational practices such as collaborative assignments, field trips, research capstone projects and ePortfolios. She designs her courses with scaffolded assignments and assessments that create visual, auditory, kinesthetic and reflective opportunities to build student knowledge and skills. In every course, she includes career competencies to ready the upcoming workforce.

She said her instruction style has also been informed by the dance training she received in her youth.

“Like a choreographer, I meet my learners where they are, provide structure and performance guidelines, offer additional support and pay close attention to group dynamics and skill levels,” Dahl said. “By the end of the training period, the final assessments reflect growth and a collective understanding of the class concepts. Ideally, students in my courses will leave with new knowledge, increased confidence, a sense of social connection and inspiration to continue exploring the discipline.”

Dahl’s advising and mentoring portfolio is exceptional in both scale and impact. Over the past five years, she’s advised 88 undergraduate and 67 graduate students as well as 17 theses/dissertations. She has supported and encouraged many mentees who have presented at conferences, published or progressed to advanced study. Her mentoring style — structured, empathetic and empowerment-oriented — has been recognized by colleagues and reflected in repeated nominations for college-level mentoring excellence. More than 80% of Dahl’s peer-reviewed publications include student co-authors, underscoring her commitment to mentorship through collaborative scholarship.

Dahl has built a solid foundation for independent and interdisciplinary public health research, specifically focused on understanding health behaviors and promoting healthy lifestyles during transitional life phases, such as the first year of college.

Her research among maternal and child populations is significant for identifying resource gaps and testing interventions to improve the perinatal health experience.

Dahl co-leads the Charlotte Maternal and Child Health Workgroup, which aims to find solutions to maternal and child health challenges through education and conversation. The group’s community-engaged initiative, the Respectful Maternity Care Simulation, offers an interactive immersion in real patient experiences to improve maternal health outcomes. To date, more than 100 students, faculty and community partners have participated in the simulations.

“This professorship motivates me to keep expanding my teaching strategies, learning alongside my students, and building classrooms where every student can find their sparkle,” Dahl said in her acceptance speech. “Razzle dazzle is something I picked up in dance classes as a kid and bringing that pizzazz to this University makes this work incredibly exciting.”