Rate My Professor Bethany Wrye

Dr. Bethany Ann Wrye, Ph.D., MCHES, serves as Interim Chair of the Department of Health and Human Performance in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences and as Associate Professor of Public Health at Middle Tennessee State University. She earned a B.A. in both Biology and Spanish from Lipscomb University, an M.S. in Experimental Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Public Health from Middle Tennessee State University. In her teaching role within Health Science, Dr. Wrye delivers undergraduate courses including the Honors section of Health and Wellness, Assessment in Community and Public Health, Teaching Sexuality, and Methods of Communication and Marketing in Community and Public Health, as well as graduate-level Health Promotion and Theory of Health Behavior. She champions open educational resources (OER) in her courses, utilizing materials from organizations such as the CDC and WHO to enhance student engagement with real-world public health applications.

Dr. Wrye's research specializations include moral disengagement and health behaviors, ePortfolio as effective pedagogy, health disparities, health equity, health promotion, public health education and communication, qualitative analysis, social inequality, and community empowerment. Her peer-reviewed publications feature 'Dispelling stigmatizing misconceptions: A cross-sectional analysis of the impact of the adverse childhood experience of forced sexual intercourse on high-risk sexual behavior and weight status among adolescent girls' (2022), 'Does Location of Practice or Religiosity Predict Negative Physician Attitudes or Beliefs Toward LGB+ Individuals?' (2019), 'Bergamot Aromatherapy for Medical Office–Induced Anxiety Among Children With an Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized, Controlled, Blinded Clinical Trial' (2019), 'Creating a Win-Win: Designing and implementing mutually beneficial collaborations between community organizations and academic programs' (2019), 'Intersections of Physician Autonomy, Religion, and Health Care When Working With LGBT+ Patients' (2017), and 'Perceptions of binge drinking as problematic among college students' (2017). She co-authored the book 'Resiliency and the Justice Professional: Preparing for the Job' (2025). Dr. Wrye has chaired multiple doctoral dissertations, received a 2021 OER faculty grant, served as Chair of the Academics section of the Tennessee Public Health Association, facilitated faculty learning communities on ePortfolios, and contributed to public health partnerships, Relay for Life, and AAUW initiatives, demonstrating significant impact in public health education and community engagement.