Aubert appointed interim dean of Brown University School of Public Health

May 18, 2022

Dr. Ronald Aubert

Ronald Aubert, PhD, has been appointed interim dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Aubert earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology in 1990, and in the intervening years has had a broad and varied career in public health that includes research, education and practice and leadership in the public and private sectors. Aubert was gracious and enthusiastic in his acceptance of the role, which began on April 4, 2022.

“It is an honor to be asked to serve as interim dean while Dean Ashish Jha answers the call to serve our nation at a critical moment during this pandemic,” he said. “Fortunately, Dean Jha has assembled a first-in-class executive team that will continue to implement the aggressive agenda he has laid out for the Brown University School of Public Health. I have great colleagues such as Dean Megan Ranney, and along with Provost Locke, we will continue to move things forward until Dean Jha returns.”

For the past 4 ½ years, Aubert has served as adjunct professor of the practice and health services policy and practice at the School of Public Health and Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. He has held the position of interim associate dean for diversity and inclusion since July 2021 and serves as faculty director of the Brown University’s Presidential Scholars Program. He has also held appointments at UNC Gillings, Rutgers School of Public Health and Emory University School of Medicine.

Not confined to academia, his extensive leadership commitments include the role of chief scientific officer for Research and Evaluation Analytics, LLC, an independent consulting group that supports the evaluation of health care programs, products and services using open-source data management tools. Bayer Healthcare and Medco Health Solutions are among the health care organizations where he has held leadership positions.

Aubert also brings a wealth of epidemiologic and leadership experience in the government sector, having worked in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as chief of epidemiology and commander in the U.S. Public Health Service.

Colleagues laud his commitment to increasing the diversity of master’s and doctoral students at the School of Public Health and his work to strengthen its partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities.

Aubert replaces Dean Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, on an interim basis while Jha serves as White House coronavirus response coordinator.

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.