Jim Stimpson named Associate Dean of Academic Affairs

The CUNY SPH Associate Dean for Academic Affairs serves as the school’s chief academic officer, providing the intellectual and administrative leadership for academic programs, assessment and accreditation activities, and faculty development initiatives.”Jim will be an excellent addition to the School of Public Health,” said Dean Ayman El-Mohandes. “I thank the search committee for presenting us with such a wonderful candidate. He has expressed great excitement about working collaboratively with our community, across all four campuses, to grow existing programs and lead innovation in public health education.”In addition to his position as associate professor at UNMC, Dr. Stimpson has served as senior policy analyst for government affairs, and graduate program director for health services research, administration, and policy. The focus of his research has been the social determinants of population health and inequalities, with substantive areas of interest in immigration policy, transportation policy, urban health, and chronic disease prevention. His goal as a researcher has been to discover, communicate, and apply data-driven evidence into policy change.

Stimpson’s research has been funded by numerous organizations including the National Cancer Institute, CMS Innovation Center, the Health Care Cost Institute, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He has published more than 75 journal articles and policy reports, which have appeared in leading journals such as Health Affairs, Academic Medicine, and American Journal of Public Health; these publications have been covered by media outlets across the country including the Associated Press, NY Times, and the Huffington Post.

Stimpson has taught in the area of health policy, both at the graduate and undergraduate level. His philosophy in teaching is embodied in his statement, “I believe that my mission is to empower students to link personal troubles to public issues using empirical evidence and critical thinking and conceive innovative, sustainable solutions.” At UNMC, he led the Nebraska Health Policy Academy, which started as a CDC grant funded training program for health departments, and was adapted into a broader initiative to arm a greater number of the public health workforce with the tools to advocate for effective public health policy change.