School Notes: School of Public Health
May/June 2023

New dean for School of Public Health

Megan L. Ranney, an internationally recognized public health leader, investigator, advocate, and clinician-scientist, will become dean of the Yale School of Public Health on July 1.

Ranney currently serves as deputy dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, where she has been on the faculty since 2008. She is also a professor of behavioral and social science, the Warren Alpert Endowed Professor of Emergency Medicine at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School, and the founding director of the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health. 

Known for her deep commitment to working with communities to identify and address complex public health challenges, especially those that burden historically underserved or marginalized populations, Ranney fills the vacancy created by the departure of former dean Sten Vermund, Anna M. R. Lauder Professor of Public Health and a professor of pediatrics, who returned to teaching and research when his five-year term ended in July 2022.

Civil rights scholar receives Winslow Medal

Prominent law professor and civil rights scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw was presented with the Yale School of Public Health’s highest honor, the C-E. A. Winslow Medal, on February 3.

Crenshaw was recognized for her foundational work in two fields of study: critical race theory and intersectionality. “One of the major areas of focus at YSPH is conducting research to achieve health equity and justice for all and, more specifically, designing, implementing, evaluating, and promoting evidence-based public health programs, systems, and policies that redress health inequities,” said Winslow Medal Committee chair Melinda Irwin, associate dean of research and Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases). “Dr. Crenshaw is an internationally recognized leader in this field, and we are delighted that she is a recipient of YSPH’s highest honor.”