Dorothy C. Browne, MSW, MPH, Dr.PH, has joined Jackson State University as its inaugural dean of Mississippi’s first School of Public Health, effective Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Since 2012, Browne has served as an adjunct professor of maternal and child welfare at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health while also working with colleagues from UNC-CH and/or Duke University (Consortium for Social Equity) conducting workshops, teaching courses in health disparities and planning the National Health Equity Research Webcast (formerly the Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute and Videoconference on Minority Health).
“We look forward to having someone of Dr. Browne’s caliber lead this very important academic enterprise supporting one of JSU’s roles in the state’s and region’s emerging healthcare corridors. Her career track shows a long and passionate commitment to public health and to improving health disparities. It is my pleasure to welcome her to Jackson State and to Mississippi,” said Carolyn W. Meyers, president of Jackson State University.
Browne said the vision for the new school drew her to Jackson State. “I became very excited about this opportunity when I learned that this new School of Public Health at Jackson State had the support of the governor and that Dr. Meyers’ vision for the program was not myopic, but expansive and collaborative in nature,” she said.
“I have already received several congratulatory comments from colleagues in the public health field from across the country, and many have already started conversations offering their support in various ways,” Browne said.
In 2009, Browne became the Special Assistant to the Chancellor and the Director of the Public Health Institute at North Carolina A&T State University. From 2001 to 2009, Browne was the senior scientist for Morgan State University’s NIH-funded Prevention Sciences Research Center (which subsequently housed the Drug Abuse Research Program, the Summer Research Training Program for Undergraduate Students, the Health Services Research Training Program, and the Faculty Fellows Research Program in Drug Abuse Prevention). In addition, Browne was co-director of the Morgan-Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions – a collaborative venture with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
While at Morgan State University, Browne was also a full professor in the Public Health Program, where she was associate dean of research and co-chair of the Committee for the Accreditation of a School of Public Health. Browne has more than 35 years of experience as a faculty member, a public health researcher and an administrator. She received her B.A. from Bennett College, M.S.W. degree from the University of Pittsburgh and the M.P.H. and Dr.PH from Harvard University. Browne began her public health career at the School of Public Health at UNC-CH, where she gained tenure and was promoted.
She is the mother of twins – Brian, who is a senior chief in the U.S. Navy (Virginia Beach), and Felicia, who completes her Ph.D. in August 2015 and will continue her HIV/AIDS research in South Africa.