BYU-Idaho professor named to Idaho Board of Health and Welfare
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The following is a news release from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
REXBURG — Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has appointed Rexburg resident Timothy Rarick, Ph.D., to a four-year term on the Idaho Board of Health and Welfare. Rarick is a professor in the Department of Home and Family at Brigham Young University-Idaho and co-founder of the family life education blog FamilyGoodThings.com.
Writing, blogging, teaching, advocating and speaking extensively as “Dr. Tim” on parenting principles, child development, the family as the fundamental unit of society, fatherhood, and other topics, Rarick brings a research-based perspective on children, parents, and families to the board. He also serves on the advisory board for United Families International, the board of Educate Empower Kids, and has spoken several times during the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.
Rarick fills a vacancy on the seven-member Board of Health and Welfare created by the retirement of Janet Penfold of Driggs, who had served on the board since 1997. The board helps guide the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in the promotion and protection of the public health and well-being of Idaho citizens. The rulemaking and advisory body can adopt, amend, or repeal department rules and standards.
Prior to joining the BYU-Idaho faculty in 2011, Rarick was an instructor at Kansas State University, where he also earned his master’s degree in marriage, family, and human development as well as his Ph.D. in family studies and lifespan human development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies from the University of Utah and an associate’s degree in general studies from Utah Valley University. In 2017, he was a visiting research fellow at the Marriage & Religion Research Institute at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a research advisor for Native American Fatherhood & Families in Mesa, Ariz.
“I look forward to learning from and working with fellow Idaho DHW board members, policymakers, and many others,” says Rarick. “My family and I never anticipated living in Idaho. But over the past seven years, we are now proud to call Idaho home. It is an honor and a thrill to combine my passion for promoting individual and family health with my love for Idaho.”
The Board of Health and Welfare’s voting members are appointed by the Governor, each representing one of seven geographic regions of Idaho. The board also includes the director of the Department of Health and Welfare, a representative from the Governor’s Office, and the chairs of the Idaho Legislature’s House and Senate Health and Welfare committees.
More information on members, annual reports, meeting minutes: Idaho Board of Health and Welfare