Campus & community, Campus news

Michael C. Lu named next School of Public Health dean

Lu comes from George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health

A photo of Michael C. Lu

Michael C. Lu will be the next dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.

Chancellor Carol Christ and Executive Vice Chancellor A. Paul Alivisatos issued the following message today:

Dear campus community,

After a competitive national search, we are delighted to announce that Michael C. Lu, currently professor and senior associate dean for academic, student, and faculty affairs at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, has accepted our offer to become the next dean of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. He will begin his term on July 1, 2019.

Professor Lu is well known to many in our School of Public Health community. A graduate of the school with master’s degrees in epidemiology as well as health and medical sciences, he served as director of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2012 to 2017, during which time he transformed key federal programs in maternal and child health, and launched new initiatives to reduce maternal, infant, and child mortality across the nation. Before that, he was a professor of obstetrics-gynecology and public health at UCLA for nearly 15 years, focusing his research on racial-ethnic disparities in birth outcomes.

In his current role at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, Professor Lu oversees operations and provides leadership and vision for the academic mission of a school of 335 faculty and 2,400 students. During his tenure, he has helped launch a major expansion of undergraduate programs, overhauled the Master of Public Health core curriculum, strengthened doctoral programs, instituted a Master Teachers Academy, and made organizational changes at the school that have expanded financial aid, enhanced the student experience, and improved academic planning and innovations.

Aside from his master’s degrees from Berkeley, Professor Lu received his undergraduate degree from Stanford and his M.D. from UCSF. He won our School of Public Health’s Alumnus of the Year Award in 2016 and the campus-wide Influential Alumni Award in 2018. Professor Lu was also honored with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Hubert H. Humphrey Service to America Award in 2013. You can learn more about Professor Lu and his work in this story on the SPH website.

Throughout his distinguished career, Professor Lu has remained a staunch advocate for Berkeley and our School of Public Health, and he impressed the search committee and SPH community with his passion for public health, extensive experience as an administrator, and collaborative leadership style. We are certain that he will continue to elevate SPH’s stature as a hugely influential, top-caliber institution celebrated for its education, research, and community engagement.

In closing, we would like to thank the search committee for their service, and also like to express our deep gratitude to William H. Dow, who has served as interim dean over the past year, for his capable stewardship of the school. Please join us in thanking these members of our campus for their service, and in wishing Professor Lu a warm welcome back to Berkeley.

Sincerely,

Carol Christ
Chancellor

A.Paul Alivisatos
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost