April 5 Public Health Forum: Leadership Challenges in Public Health Practice.

A public health forum organized by the Practice Office will feature BUSPH alumna Lillian Shirley, director of Multnomah County Health Department in Oregon.

Lillian Shirley 

Her presentation — “Being Right is Not Enough: Leadership Challenges for Public Health Practice” — will cover some of the requirements for being an effective public health leader and change agent. Her talk will take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Room L110. For more information, contact sloh@bu.edu.

Shirley serves as president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials and as vice-chair of the Public Health Foundation Board in Washington, D.C.

Prior to moving to Oregon, Shirley was the director of public health in Boston and responsible for all preventive and community-based health services. Following the merger of Boston City Hosital that created the Boston University Medical Center, she became the interim Commissioner of the newly formed Boston Public Health Commission. In this role, she had executive responsibility for the establishment, design, and organization of the new public health authority in Boston.

Shirley received a master’s in public health from Boston University School of Medicine and a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.