Howard Frumkin

Professor Emeritus, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health

Howard Frumkin is an internist, occupational and environmental medicine specialist, and epidemiologist, with a career that’s taken him to academia, government, and philanthropy. He is just back from two years in London leading the Wellcome Trust “Our Planet, Our Health” initiative.  Previously he was Dean of the UW School of Public Health (2010-2016). Earlier in his career he directed the National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) at the CDC (2005-2010) and was Professor and Chair of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University (1995-2010). Dr. Frumkin’s interests lie at the interface of biomedical science and the environment (broadly defined to include planetary changes, the built environment, and the natural world).  He has served on many NASEM committees and Boards (EAT Foundation, Bullitt Foundation, Seattle Parks Foundation, U.S. Green Building Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, American Public Health Association, National Environmental Education Foundation, Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute).  His books including Environmental Health: From Global to Local (Jossey-Bass, 3^rd ed. 2016), Making Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Health, Well-Being, and Sustainability (Island Press, 2011), and Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves (Island Press, 2020). He was educated at Brown (AB), Penn (MD), and Harvard (MPH and DrPH). He loves cycling, paddling, and hiking. He is married to global health journalist Joanne Silberner, and has two children, Gabe, a labor lawyer, and Amara, a physician.