Michelle A. Williams, Sc.D. ’91, Dean of Faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Karen M. Emmons, professor and Dean for Academic Affairs, have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), the National Academies announced today. Election to the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
Williams is an internationally renowned epidemiologist and public health scientist, an award-winning educator, and a widely recognized academic leader. Prior to becoming dean on July 1, she was professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School and program leader of the Population Health and Health Disparities Research Programs at Harvard’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Center (Harvard Catalyst).
Her scientific work focuses on reproductive, perinatal, pediatric, and molecular epidemiology. She has published more than 425 peer-reviewed research papers ranging from studies of modifiable behavioral and environmental determinants of adverse health outcomes, to genetic and genomic studies of common complications of pregnancy and chronic disorders among children and adults.
Emmons will rejoin the School on Nov. 1. She previously served as vice president for research and director of the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute. Emmons was a faculty member in the School’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences from 1994 to 2014, and from 2009 to 2013 was associate dean for research.
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