Health education spans topics such as specific diseases, sports, economics, public health and health policy. Professors at some of the most distinguished universities often are singled out as influential leaders. While a sampling of some of those professors are included here, a few other professors from lesser-known colleges also have made this list for the top 10 most influential health education professors. This list is arranged in alphabetical order by surname.
Lawrence D. Abraham, EdD, is Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education and has been on the faculty of UT Austin since 1975, with research leaves in 1980-81 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and in 1987-88 at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1993-94 he held the William David Blunk Memorial Professorship in recognition of outstanding teaching and service to students. Since 2003 he has served as a Co-Director of the UTeach Natural Sciences Program for preparing secondary science and mathematics teachers.
William Brieger, DrPH, MPH, is a professor and Senior Malaria Specialist, JHPIEGO; Certified Health Education Specialist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His major research objectives are to learn about the social, cultural and behavioural aspects of health and illness and related program design in the context of primary health care and health education in Africa. In 2008 he received an Award of Merit for Contributions to the Development of Public Health in Africa. A current project includes the study of malaria in pregnancy control, a pilot project in Akwa Iborn State Nigeria.
Noreen M. Clark, PhD, is the Myron E. Wegman Distinguished University Professor; Professor of Health Behavior & Health Education; Professor of Pediatrics; and Director of the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan. Among her many appointments are National Program Director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Allies Against Asthma Program; president of the Society for Public Health Education and chair of the Public Health Education Section of the American Public Health Association; chair of the Behavioral Science Section of the American Thoracic Society; and chair of the American Lung Association (ALA) Technical Advisory Group on Asthma, and the Lung Diseases Care and Education Committee.
Randall Cottrell, DEd, CHES, has conducted research and published in the areas of worksite health promotion, coordinated school health, and program evaluation. He has written textbooks on stress management, weight control, foundations of the profession, and most recently research methods. In April 2004, he served a two-year term as President of the American Association for Health. He is one of only two public health educators nationally to receive a Fulbright Scholar Award to explore health education efforts in China and share research about health education programs in the United States.
Gretchen Kerr, PhD, is associate professor and associate dean of undergraduate education at the Faculty of Physical Education and Health, University of Toronto. The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) has named Professor Gretchen Kerr one of the most influential women of the year, celebrating the impact she’s had on advancing sport and physical activity for women and girls. Her expertise includes harassment and abuse in youth sport and the retirement transition from sport.
Jane Kim, MSc, PhD, has won awards for her presentations at annual meetings held by the Society for Medical Decision Making and the International Papillomavirus Society. Assistant professor of Health Decision Science at the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Kim’s research focuses on the development and application of mathematical modeling methods to evaluate health policy issues related to women’s health. She recently was award the ASPH/Pfizer Young Investigator’s Award for Distinguished Research in Public Health.
Warren McNab, PhD, has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Association of Health Education and the American School Health Association, has been elected a fellow of these associations, and has received distinguished recognition awards from both of these associations. Professor of Health Promotion at the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada, Las Veagas, McNab has authored more than 50 scholarly articles on such topics as health education, human sexuality, and teenage pregnancy, and has served on a number of editorial boards of such scholarly journals as The Health Educator and The Journal of Health Education.
Marion Nestle, MPH, PhD, is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, which she chaired from 1988-2003. She also holds appointments as Professor of Sociology at NYU and Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. Her degrees include a PhD in molecular biology and an MPH in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of three prize-winning books: Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety, and What to Eat.
Uwe E. Reinhardt, PhD, the James Madison Professor of Political Economy and Professor of Economics and Public Affairs in health policy and economics at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, is recognized as one of the nation’s leading authorities on health care economics. In recognition of his contributions to the field of health services research and lifelong achievements, he has been named the 2010 recipient of the William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research. Dr. Reinhardt serves, or has served, on a number of government commissions and advisory boards including the Physician Payment Review Commission established by the U.S. Congress to advise on issues related to physician payment.
John A. Rich, MD, MPH, is Professor and Chair of Health Management and Policy at the Drexel University School of Public Health. He has been a leader in the field of public health, and his work has focused on serving one of the nation’s most ignored and underserved populations — African-American men in urban settings. In 2006, Dr. Rich was granted a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. In awarding this distinction, the Foundation cited his work to design “new models of health care that stretch across the boundaries of public health, education, social service, and justice systems to engage young men in caring for themselves and their peers.”
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