Curtis joins School of Medicine Department of Cancer Prevention and Control

Reagan Curtis joined the West Virginia University School of Medicine in August as a professor in the new Department of Cancer Prevention and Control.  

In this role, Curtis brings his extensive experience to the evaluation needs associated with the WVU Cancer Institute’s path to National Cancer Institute designation. Curtis continues to serve as the Tracking and Evaluation Core Director for the WV Clinical and Translational Science Institute bringing novel evaluation approaches that facilitate data-based decision making.  

Prior to joining the School of Medicine, Curtis served as an assistant, associate and full professor of educational psychology in the College of Applied Human Sciences since 2005. He received the former College of Education and Human Services’ Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009, Outstanding Research Award in 2011 and in 2020 was named the Chester E. & Helen B. Derrick Endowed Professor. 

Throughout his career, Curtis has published numerous journal articles, chapters in edited volumes and proceedings and abstracts. In 2023, Curtis co-authored the book “Design Thinking in the Middle Grades: Transforming Mathematics and Science Learning” focused on new teaching methods related to mathematics, science, literacy and engineering.  

As the founding director of the WVU Program Evaluation and Research Center, Curtis has helped to secure and implement over $64 million in external funding from federal, state and local (NGO) organizations.  

He taught at California State University, Northridge and Northwestern State University prior to joining West Virginia University.  

Curtis earned a Ph.D. in Education with emphases in educational psychology, interdisciplinary human development and cognitive science, a M.A. in Education with an emphasis in teaching and learning and a B.A. in Psychology all from the University of California, Santa Barbara.