Biography

Suzanne Marie Babich is a practitioner scholar dedicated to leading and supporting change to improve the public’s health. On July 1, 2015 she became Associate Dean of Global Health and Professor, Health Policy and Management, at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), USA. There she works across the school and campus and around the world to advance teaching, research and service in public and global health. She has a special interest in interdisciplinary education and applications of technology for innovative approaches to programming.

She is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill where prior to joining IUPUI she directed the UNC Executive Doctoral Program in Health Leadership, a groundbreaking professional doctoral degree program for mid- to senior-level health practitioners working full-time around the world.

Her professional interests include health care leadership and the science and practice of people-centered health systems. An award-winning educator, she has extensive experience in online education and competency based curricula. In addition, her professional expertise includes dietary guidance policy (domestic and international), cultural proficiency in health services delivery, and policy development and advocacy.

She is a Commissioner and member of the Accreditation Council for the Council on Accreditation of Health Management Education (CAHME) and an adjunct member of the Board of Accreditation, European Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA). She has been a long-time expert and advisor for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) on the development of professional doctoral program curricula and pedagogy.

She has a particular interest in online and flexible learning. With colleagues in Africa and support from the Rockefeller Foundation, she is leading an effort to establish a Pan-African doctoral program in health leadership. She is also working with CAHME and APHEA to pilot accreditation processes for online public and global health graduate programs. A licensed, registered dietitian, professional health writer and former newspaper columnist, she is also (as Suzanne Havala Hobbs) the author of 14 consumer diet and health books and more than 600 newspaper columns and magazine articles that translate research into practical recommendations for the public. A champion of public universities, she believes that excellence in local public health requires a global perspective.

Dr. Babich can be reached on Skype at Suzanne.Babich1.