Health, Behavior and Society Professorship and Chair

Bloomberg School of Public Health

Established in 2017 with funds from the Behavior and Health Endowment, which was created in 2003 by Michael R. Bloomberg

MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG is the founder of Bloomberg LP, Philanthropist, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, World Health Organization Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases, and three-term mayor of New York City.

He is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who served as mayor of New York City from 2002-2013 after leading the company he started in 1981 for 20 years. Since leaving City Hall, he has resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP.

Bloomberg was elected mayor less than two months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Under his leadership, the city rebounded faster and stronger than expected on issues ranging from education to health to economic development.

A lifelong philanthropist, Bloomberg founded Bloomberg Philanthropies, which focuses on five main areas: public health, education, the environment, the arts, and government innovation. He also leads a number of bi-partisan coalitions on urgent issues, including climate change, illegal guns, immigration reform, and infrastructure investment.

Bloomberg graduated from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School.

Held by Joanna Cohen

JOANNA COHEN, PhD, MHSc, is the inaugural Bloomberg Professor of Disease Prevention. Dr. Cohen directs the Institute for Global Tobacco Control, leading the effort in the Bloomberg Tobacco Initiative. She joined the Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2010 as an associate professor in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society. Previously she was the associate director of the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit at the University of Toronto. An active, award-winning researcher and educator, Dr. Cohen’s research focuses on the factors that affect the adoption and implementation of public health policies, especially related to tobacco availability and smoking behavior, and on evaluating the beneficial effects and unintended consequences of such policies. She received her doctorate in health policy and administration from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a master of health sciences degree in community health and epidemiology from the University of Toronto.