Swanson named Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Health at IUPUI

G. Marie Swanson

Dr. G. Marie Swanson has been named Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Health, announced IUPUI Chancellor Charles R. Bantz, pending approval by the IU Board of Trustees. The title is an addition to the one Swanson already has – Chair of the Department of Public Health in the IU School of Medicine.

The additional title is being conferred as Swanson prepares to lead efforts to form a School of Public Health at IUPUI.

Last May, Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie announced a plan to form two schools of public health, one at PUI and the other at Bloomington.

In his announcement, McRobbie said the school at IUPUI will grow from the Department of Public Health in the School of Medicine and is expected to focus on urban health issues, while the new school at IU Bloomington is expected to be based on the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and will focus more on rural health issues, general wellness and other areas that build on existing strengths.

In announcing Swanson’s new title, Bantz said, “As the founding dean of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, Professor Swanson is the ideal person to lead the development of the new School of Public Health at IUPUI.”

Uday Sukhatme, Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties at IUPUI, noted that Professor Swanson, who is a leading figure in the field of epidemiology, is “extremely knowledgeable and well qualified for obtaining appropriate accreditation from national agencies for forming a School of Public Health. She also is a past President of the American College of Epidemiology and has had continuous NIH funding for more than 35 years in the areas of cancer and chronic disease epidemiology and health disparities. She currently serves on a national Scientific Advisory Board for a 20 year Department of Defense cohort study of health promotion and disease prevention among military personnel."

Swanson has a master’s in public health in the field of epidemiology from the John Hopkins University and a doctorate from Wayne State University in the field of Sociology.

Swanson has been a Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health, as well as the Associate Director for Population Sciences at the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center on the campus of IUPUI since November 2008. From August 2007 to 2008, she was a Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Public Health and Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control at the IU Simon Cancer Center.