Noreen M. Clark, PhD (chair)
Myron E Wegman Distinguished University Professor
Professor of Health Behavior & Health Education
Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases
Director, Center for Managing Chronic Disease
University of Michigan

Noreen M. Clark is the Myron E Wegman Distinguished University Professor, Professor of Health Behavior & Health Education, Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School, and Director of the Center for Managing Chronic Disease. From 1995 - 2005 she served as Dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Clark is interested in systems, policies and programs that promote health, prevent illness, and enable individuals to manage disease. She has served in numerous leadership positions. She serves as National Director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Allies Against Asthma Program. She was a member of the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. She has been president of the Society for Public Health Education and chair of the Public Health Education Section of the American Public Health Association. She has served as chair of the Behavioral Science Section of the American Thoracic Society, as a member of the Pulmonary Diseases Advisory Committee for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and as a member of the Institute's Advisory Committee on Prevention, Education, and Control. Dr. Clark is a member of the Coordinating Council of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and its Science Base Committee. She has chaired the American Lung Association (ALA) Technical Advisory Group on Asthma, and the Lung Diseases Care and Education Committee. She has served on both the board and council of the ALA. She is the former editor of Health Education and Behavior and associate editor of Annual Reviews of Public Health. She is the recipient of the Distinguished Fellow Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Society for Public Health Education; the Derryberry Award for outstanding contribution to health education in behavioral science given by the American Public Health Association (APHA); the Health Education Research Award conferred by the National Asthma Education Program for leadership and research contributions; the Distinguished Career Award in Health Education and Promotion given by the APHA; and the Healthtrac Education Prize, among other honors. She has published over 130 scientific articles related to public health and disease management. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science and the council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Clark's primary research specialty is management of disease, and she has conducted many large-scale program evaluations. She is attempting to identify the elements of self-regulation, and uses management of asthma and heart disease as models for examining constructs. Her studies of self-management have contributed to the research literature and the field of practice by demonstrating that educational interventions can decrease asthma hospitalizations and medical emergencies. Her work has resulted in an archetype educational program for health care facilities distributed by the National Institutes of Health and used in hundreds of clinics nationally and internationally. A program developed in subsequent research to adapt the model for use in public schools is being disseminated by the American Lung Association and has to date reached over 200,000 American school children. Other model programs for management of asthma and heart disease are currently being evaluated by Dr. Clark and her research team.
 
Dr. Clark has extensive international experience. Her research focuses on development and testing of interventions designed to improve health status, quality of life, and collaborative activity among rural people in Kenya and in the Philippines. In addition, she has been a consultant for a wide range of organizations working around the world including the Ethiopian Women's Welfare Association, the Ministry of Education in Nepal, the Asia Foundation in Pakistan, the Directorate of Health in Portugal, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, the Synergos Institute, the Community Health Authority of Madrid, and the Beijing Heart Lung and Vessel Institute, among others. She serves on the board of directors of World Education Inc. and of Family Care International. Dr. Clark is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and she served on the Overseas Development Council and on the board of the Aaron Diamond Foundation.