PBN Leaders & Achievers 2024 Awards
Rebecca Simon | Johnson & Wales University | Associate dean
REBECCA SIMON HASN’T MET an obstacle she won’t face head on.
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“You either fix it or find a way around it,” said Simon, associate dean at Johnson & Wales University. “It’s how I look at any task in leadership.”
As an occupational therapist for more than 20 years with a specialty in pediatrics, Simon worked with families and patients to meet their goals and work through barriers. Those relationships and lessons have prepared her for a career in higher education.
Simon began teaching at the college level in 2001 and transitioned to a full-time position in 2008, which was split between teaching and reaching out to community partners to build connections. In 2017, she began working at JWU in Providence.
There, she was one of two people to develop Rhode Island’s first occupational therapy doctorate program. In that role, Simon worked to make connections and work across boundaries, even reaching out to JWU’s culinary program to see if there were opportunities for collaboration and to develop a unique program.
It’s paid off. In the last five years, the program has tripled in size.
Working toward finding what can make something or someone standout is a theme throughout Simon’s leadership. She is currently chairing a health and wellness committee aiming to develop programs for JWU’s community – across employees and students – that people want while recognizing everyone’s different needs.
When she mentors, Simon says she varies her style and meets the person where they are and helps them by seeing the intersection of their skills and goals and moving them a bit out of their comfort zone for untapped potential.
“I am not afraid to give somebody a little push in that direction either and say, ‘You know you can do this and I will be here with you,’ ” Simon said.
Mentoring is a bi-directional relationship, Simon says. She also credits her mentors for helping her every step of the way to be her authentic self and hopes to inspire others to do the same.
(Correction: An earlier version of this story included inaccurate tuition data.)
