Dr. Adnan Hyder Named Dean of Boston University School of Public Health.
Dr. Adnan Hyder. Credit: Heather Morgan for GW Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Dr. Adnan Hyder Named Dean of Boston University School of Public Health
A globally renowned doctor and scholar who has devoted more than 25 years to improving healthcare in low- and middle-income countries, Adnan Hyder joins BU as the Robert A. Knox Professor and the next dean of SPH.
Following a nationwide search, Dr. Adnan Hyder, a world-renowned physician and scholar who has spent more than two decades improving health in low- and middle-income countries, has been named Robert A. Knox Professor and the next dean of Boston University School of Public Health, beginning in fall 2025.
Boston University President Melissa Gilliam and Provost Gloria Waters announced Hyder’s appointment in a letter to the university on Monday, July 21.
Hyder will join BU from The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (GWSPH), where he currently serves as senior associate dean for research and innovation and professor of global health and has been on the faculty since 2018.
Recognized among the world’s premier scholars in health systems and policy, Hyder has worked to advance global health across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Through National Institutes of Health-supported research, he has made significant contributions to the global understanding of the epidemiological burden, risk factors, potential interventions, economic impact, and socio-cultural correlates of noncommunicable diseases and injuries around the world. At GWSPH, he leads the nation’s first center dedicated to commercial determinants of health affecting people in the United States and globally.
“I started my career with the mission of social justice, and it aligns so well with SPH [at Boston University], a top-10 school of public health that has grown so much but did not forget its roots,” Hyder says. “My focus is to be in service of a mission and a community that knows its worth, and I have found it at SPH.”
Prior to his work at GWSPH, Hyder served for 20 years on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he was director of the health systems program and associate chair in the Department of International Health and associate director for global bioethics at the JHU Berman Institute of Bioethics. He received his MD from the Aga Khan University in Pakistan and his MPH and PhD in public health from JHU.
Hyder will join BU officially on August 15, succeeding Sandro Galea as SPH dean. Michael Stein, chair and professor of health law, policy & management, has served as dean ad interim since Galea’s departure.
“We are thrilled that Dr. Hyder is joining us at Boston University during this important moment for public health in the United States and across the world,” Gilliam says. “His strong experience as a leading interdisciplinary researcher, innovative scholar, and advocate for improved global healthcare will serve the School of Public Health well.”
Lynn R. Goldman, the Michael and Lori Milken Dean at GWSPH, praised Hyder’s new role in an email announcement, calling Hyder an “invaluable member” of the school’s community. “Congratulations to BU for recruiting Adnan Hyder as your new Dean! … I look forward to seeing the great impact Dr. Hyder will have as Dean at BU, knowing how effective he has been at GW.”
Read more about Hyder in BU Today.