Ralph A. Manchester, MD, FACP, FACHA
Past President, ACHA
Ralph Manchester is Vice-Provost and Director of the University Health Service and a Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester. Prior to coming to Rochester, he received his undergraduate degree at Tufts University, his medical degree at the University of Vermont and residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Kentucky.
Ralph is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the American College Health Foundation. He served as President of the American College Health Association (ACHA) in 2002-03, and he is on the editorial board of the Journal of American College Health. He has been elected to fellowship in ACHA and in the American College of Physicians, and he is an author or co-author of over 20 articles in peer-reviewed publications. He has also served on the Performing Arts Medicine Association Board of Directors and is currently President.
The 100th anniversary of the Association is especially meaningful to Ralph for two reasons. Ralph was mentored by several of the key leaders in ACHA, including Dr Clifford Reifler, past president of ACHA and former editor of JACH. Dr Reifler became the founding director of the University of Rochester Health Service in 1970, so 2020 is also the 50th anniversary of our health service.
Kim Webb, MEd, LPC, FACHA
President-Elect, ACHA
Kim Webb received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in counseling psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her career started in psychiatric rehabilitation with forensic clients. This work piqued her interest in understanding trauma and the prevalence of sexual violence, particularly within vulnerable communities. As part of this discovery, she worked in Rwanda with survivors of the genocide, where she taught in Kigali and at the University of Butare. She has over 20 years’ experience working with folks who have experienced trauma related to relationship and sexual violence, with the past 15 years devoted to a college population. As the Director of Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center at Washington University in St. Louis, she is committed to raising awareness of these huge public health issues, promoting community engagement, and addressing systemic barriers to care.
On the national level, she serves on the board of directors for the American College Health Association and has served this organization in several capacities, currently as president-elect. She co-authored a toolkit for campuses entitled Addressing Relationship and Sexual Violence: A Trauma Informed Approach, commissioned by ACHA, as well as Best Practices for Sensitive Exams. In 2018, she was honored to receive the Ruth E. Boynton Award for distinguished service to ACHA along with the authors of the aforementioned toolkit. She is excited to be part of the 2020 anniversary celebration, which honors and uplifts the work that has collectively sustained efforts to afford health and wellness for our nation’s students. She is committed to working with her fellow colleagues to embrace the next 100 years as we continue the work that has come before us, collectively grappling, improving, exploring, and discovering ways to improve the health and well-being of all college students, providers, and staff.
Katrin Wesner-Harts, EdD, FACHA
President, ACHA
Katrin Wesner-Harts, EdD, FACHA, is the director of the Abrons Student Health Center at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). Prior to joining UNCW in 2007, she was the associate director of the Student Health Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Katrin has been a member of ACHA since 1995. She is currently the ACHA President, having served as President-Elect and a Member-At-Large on the ACHA Board of Directors. She has also served as chair and program planner for the ACHA Administration Section and was vice president, president-elect, president, and past president of the Southern College Health Association. While Katrin was SCHA president, UNCW hosted the 2016 SCHA Conference, All Aboard! Nurturing Your Passion for College Health. Katrin has a BS in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University; an MS in Psychology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; a graduate certificate in Health Systems Administration from Union Graduate College; and an EdD in Educational Leadership/Higher Education from UNCW. Katrin’s research interests include emergency preparedness, emergency response, and transgender student success. Katrin notes “What an amazing year to be president as we celebrate our past 100 years and look towards our future!”