J. Violet Gannon, former assistant dean of the College and director of The University of
Chicago Careers in Health Professions Program (UCIHP), has been appointed to the
new position of director of career development. Gannon reports to Mary Jo Keating ’74, secretary of the college and vice president for college relations.

“Career development at Trinity is one of the most important departments in terms of providing students with a meaningful, applicable preparation for their successful future in the world,” says Keating. She notes that the new director’s position was created to recognize the critical role career development plays in attracting new students to Trinity and enabling current students and alumni to reach their full potential in the workplace and in graduate programs. In addition to supervising the staff in the Career Development Center, Gannon will work closely with faculty, administrators, students, and alumni.

Gannon began her career in higher education at Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, where she oversaw a federally funded investigation of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse comorbidity. As a researcher in the department of medicine at The University of Chicago Medical Center, Gannon collaborated with faculty and hospital administrators to investigate the role of health care delivery in determining patients’ experiences and health outcomes.

Prior to joining The University of Chicago, she worked at the Chicago-based Health and
Medicine Policy Research Group as associate director of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform,
where she was responsible for conducting policy analysis and identifying opportunities for strategic and programmatic growth.

Gannon has a B.A. from Brown University and a master’s degree in social policy from The
University of Chicago.