Megan Healey, a clinical assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, has been named the school’s first Master of Public Health director.
Healey will oversee MPH educational programs, including the Executive MPH program launching in the fall of 2018, and coordinate MPH dual degree programs.
The position of MPH Director, Healey said, was developed due to growth in SPH’s educational programs.
“The role stemmed from the intersection of my involvement in developing and teaching courses in the new BU MPH, and co-directing the epidemiology and biostatistics MPH certificate,” Healey wrote in an email. “In essence, this role expands on my experience working with students and faculty both inside and outside the classroom.”
Lisa Sullivan, the associate dean for education at SPH, said the school has had a faculty member as the point person to manage academic requirements and student progress for each of its degree programs except the MPH program, SPH’s largest degree program.
“We have various components of the program, so we had a number of faculty, and we still will, who were in charge of different pieces,” Sullivan said. “But we decided it was time to have one person overseeing all of those components, and we named Professor Healey.”
Sullivan said Healey was chosen for her hefty experience. Healey has an MPH degree of her own, teaches one of SPH’s core courses, is a member of the Satisfactory Academic Progress Committee, and is the co-director of SPH’s largest certificate program.
Healey is also a member of the SPH Education Committee, which is the school’s policy setting committee, according to Sullivan. The committee deals with all policies and procedures, as well as new proposals for the curriculum.
In her new role, Healey will lead the new Executive MPH program for incoming students with advanced public health experience, Sullivan said.
“[The Executive MPH program] is basically an option for the MPH as well as our standard MPH,” Sullivan said. “It’s great for us to have her in this role because she does such a phenomenal job with the various pieces of the program.”
Healey wrote that the Executive MPH recognizes the need for a flexible educational program for mid-career professionals.
“The Executive MPH is designed for mid-career professionals looking to leverage their experience in public health and gain specialized knowledge and skills to become impactful public health leaders,” she wrote.
Healey added that she is most looking forward to listening to and learning from SPH students as the MPH Director.
“They have remarkable backgrounds and experiences, and noble aspirations and goals.” Healey wrote. “Their collective stories will help inspire truly transformative MPH educational programs.”
Michael LaValley, a professor of biostatistics and co-director of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics MPH functional certificate program alongside Healey, said he was pleased to learn of Healey’s new position.
“I think that it is great that Megan has this new role,” LaValley wrote in an email. “I can’t say enough good things about Megan! She is just a wonderful person to work with. She pays attention to detail and really keeps the students and their concerns foremost in mind.”
Isabel is a sophomore in the College of Communication and the Opinion Editor for Fall 2018. Follow her on Twitter @isabelcowens.
