The University of Michigan announced Thursday that Charles Holmes, physician-scientist and U-M alum, has been recommended to serve as the next dean of the School of Public Health. Holmes’ five-year term will begin on July 1, pending approval from the University’s Board of Regents at its June 25 meeting. He will succeed interim dean Lynda Lisabeth, an epidemiologist who has filled the position since last June.
Holmes is currently a professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and director of Georgetown’s Center for Innovation in Global Health. Holmes previously served on the Biden-Harris Transition Agency Review Team for International Development, and as an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, expanding access to tuberculosis and malaria treatment.
Provost Laurie McCauley, executive vice president for academic affairs, told the University Record Holmes brings experience across multiple sectors of public health.
“Charles Holmes returns to Michigan with a rare view of public health’s full reach, from clinical care and research to national policy and global implementation,” McCauley said. “He understands that public health efficacy is measured by the strength of the evidence and, crucially, by whether that evidence reaches people, shapes systems and improves lives.”
Holmes received a Master of Public Health in epidemiology and international health from the School of Public Health in 1994. In the announcement, Holmes said his time at the University has played an important role in his healthcare education.
“Michigan played a formative role in my own development in public health, and I have long admired the school’s excellence in teaching, research, interdisciplinary collaboration and public service,” Holmes said. “I’m grateful to everyone involved in the search process for their confidence and partnership.”
The School of Public Health is ranked among the top five in the nation, and the dean oversees the school’s administration, budget, undergraduate and graduate programs. The School of Public Health also records $100 million annually in research expenditures, the highest research spending per capita of any school at the University.
Holmes said he aims to use the position to expand the University’s role in advancing solutions to ongoing public health challenges.
“At a time when public health has never been more important to the well-being of communities in the United States and around the world, I look forward to working with faculty, students, staff, alumni and partners to strengthen the school’s impact, support the next generation of public health leaders and advance solutions to some of society’s most important health challenges,” Holmes said.
Summer News Editor Niko Wilson can be reached at nikow@umich.edu.
