VIrginia Commonwealth University today announced that Monica Swahn, Ph.D., was appointed dean of the VCU public health schoolAs of July 1, 2025. The visitors’ council will officially examine the appointment at its next quarterly meeting.
Swahn comes to VCU from Kennesaw State University where she was dean and professor of the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services.
As Dean, Swahn will direct four departments, including 48 teachers representing six higher education programs in downtown Richmond, Virginia.
“His visionary leadership and his commitment to global public health make Dr. Swahn unique to lead the School of Public Health,” said Marlon Levy, MD, Vice-President, VCU Health Sciences and CEO of VCU Health System. “I am convinced that his approach centered on the community to direct and seek is exactly what the school needs as it develops in the years to come.”
With an impressive history of revolutionary research and committed to the community, Swahn is a distinguished leader in the field of global public health. His research examines the structural engines of alcohol consumption, violence and HIV / AIDS in the United States and in the world, with a particular accent on the way alcohol exacerbates disparities for health, including chronic diseases such as breast cancer. She has received numerous distinctions, notably the Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement in 2019.
Throughout his career, Swahn has significantly contributed to the global health initiatives, as a Fulbright scholarship holder for the Sub -Saharan HIV program at the University of Makerere in Uganda and consulting organizations such as the United Nations Development Program, the World Health Organization and the Pan -American Health Organization. Swahn has held management positions, including the vice-president associated with research at the Georgia State University and the Dean Partner for Research for the College of Health and Human Sciences. Before the academic world, she spent almost a decade to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a scientist of health and epidemiologist in several divisions.
“I am honored to join VCU and direct the public health school at such a transformer,” said Swahn. “Innovation is at the heart of VCU’s mission, and I am delighted to help advance new ideas, technologies and partnerships that deal with the most pressing public health challenges of our time. I can’t wait to work alongside the exceptional school faculty, dedicated personnel and inspiration to students to strengthen our research, deepen community engagement and extend our impact in advance of local health and generally. ”
Swahn received his doctorate. And MPH in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh, where she also won her BS in psychology.
She will succeed Vanessa B. Sheppard, Ph.D., founder of an interim dean.
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