Professor G. Marie Swanson

Adam Gomez, President Emeritus Dr. Peter Likins,
Dr. Cecilia Rosales, and Professor G. Marie Swanson

Today we honor Professor G. Marie Swanson, Founding Dean and Professor Emerita of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. Professor Swanson guided the College in its early years and helped grow public health programs and worked to establish new centers within the College. Her passion for public health put the College on track to become a national leader in education, research, and health promotion.

Professor Swanson’s unique set of talents also enabled her to lead the college to its first accreditation, an impressive feat for a new college. That accomplishment shows her determination and persistence, guided by her commitment to health equity.

Marie dedicated her 40+ year research career in public health to understanding health disparities in racial and ethnic populations, and then developing strategies and programs to eradicate those disparities. Early in her career she became Director of the Cancer Center at Michigan State University, and was elected President of the American College of Epidemiology (ACE) and served on its founding board.

Professor G. Marie Swanson, PhD, MPH

After leaving Arizona in 2007, Marie served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Health at Indiana and Purdue Universities (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, where she established the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. In 2014, she was recruited to Qatar to establish a public health program and to provide leadership to further develop the newly formed Hamad bin Khalifa University.

A nationally known epidemiologist and a member of the National Board of the American Cancer Society, Professor Swanson also served on the Board of the Medical Follow-Up Agency of the Institute of Medicine, and as an advisor for a Department of Defense prevention and health-promotion study of deployed forces. She has led and served as a member of many national and local boards and committees.

Professor Swanson's honors and awards include the Michigan Cancer Consortium Exemplary Leadership and Outstanding Dedication and Service Award; the American College of Epidemiology Distinguished Service Award; the American Cancer Society St. George Medal; the Michigan Department of Public Health Outstanding Leadership Award; Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; and the Jack E. White and LeSalle Lefall Jr. Award of the American Association for Cancer Research for research that has improved the health of minority populations.

Marie has dedicated her life to helping others, to improving the health of all populations throughout our country, and to eradicating health disparities by preventing illness and disability.

As we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, we are forever grateful to Marie for her tenacious leadership, her dedication to public health, and her ongoing support of the College. Today she continues to serve as a trusted public health advisor, and can be found hiking, cooking, baking, and advocating for public health. Marie’s motto, “Well-behaved women rarely make history,” has touched the lives of generations of students, and has inspired the College to this day. Thank you, Professor Marie Swanson, and congratulations!

Kim Bourn, Dr. Tony Vuturo, Jerry Cohen, Mel and Enid Zuckerman, and Professor G. Marie Swanson