Ty Borders, Ph.D.

Ty Borders, PhD, is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Health Sciences in the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences. He received a Ph.D. and M.A. in Hospital and Health Administration as well as a M.S. in Epidemiology from the University of Iowa and a B.A. in Psychology (with honors) from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Borders is a leading expert in the field of health services and policy and his research contributions have helped shape both state and national policies. His work applies epidemiological methods to understand the policy, system, and individual level determinants of health care access and population health. While on the faculty at the University of Kentucky, he established the federally funded Rural and Underserved Health Research Center, which he continues to Co-Lead as a faculty member at TCU. The center’s policy briefs are broadly disseminated and have been downloaded over 19,000 times. He previously served on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, which advises the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and numerous other private sector, state, and federal committees. He has published 74 high-impact, peer-reviewed articles and served as principal investigator on grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Health Services and Resources Administration, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Borders is also Editor of The Journal of Rural Health, the official scholarly journal of the 22,000-member National Rural Health Association, which ranks among the leading journals in the field of health services and policy.

He was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, was named a University Research Professor by the University of Kentucky (the highest academic honor bestowed by the Board of Trustees), and commissioned a Kentucky Colonel (the highest civilian award bestowed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky). He also received the Outstanding Alumni Award for Career Achievement from the University of Iowa College of Public Health,Excellence in Writing Award from the University of Kentucky Department of Rhetoric and Writing, and Faculty Research Award from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Public Health.