Ronald Brookmeyer to Step Down as Dean of the Fielding School of Public Health
Dear Colleagues:
I am writing to share that Dean Ronald Brookmeyer — who has led the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health since 2018 — has informed me of his decision not to seek a second full term as dean. I am pleased that he has agreed to extend his term for an additional year and a half, through June 30, 2026. At that time, having led the school for nearly eight years, he will return to the faculty as distinguished professor of biostatistics. My office requested this extension to allow sufficient time to conduct other executive searches. We plan to conduct the search for the next dean of the Fielding School in academic year 2025–26.
Dean Brookmeyer was appointed interim dean in November 2018 and dean in January 2020. Under his leadership, the school received approval for and launched new B.A. and B.S. programs in public health; and established two highly successful self-supporting graduate degree programs: the Master of Healthcare Administration and the Master of Data Science in Health. The Fielding School was also re-accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, receiving the highest scores possible on more than 120 criteria.
Under Dean Brookmeyer’s leadership, the school recruited more than 34 Academic Senate faculty, tripled the number of faculty endowed chairs, successfully competed for Bruins Rising and DataX faculty positions and steadily grew its research funding. Dean Brookmeyer also established the Fielding School’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, which has developed vibrant programming overseen by an associate dean and assistant dean.
Dean Brookmeyer led the development and adoption of the school’s 2021 Strategic Plan and its 2024 update promoting critical areas central to public health in the coming decade, including infectious diseases, climate change, data science and artificial intelligence, health equity and public health communication. He has worked tirelessly to improve the physical infrastructure of the school, which resulted in a new community space for collaboration and study; a new schoolwide conference room; new Office of Student Services and Office of Career and Professional Development; more than 25 new or renovated faculty, staff and student offices; and updated audiovisual capabilities in lecture halls and conference rooms.
Dean Brookmeyer oversaw events and festivities to honor the Fielding School’s 60th anniversary, including the first FSPH Research, Innovation and Impact Day. He championed the development and launch of a new school website and worked to significantly improve IT security in collaboration with UCLA IT Services.
In addition to these contributions, Dean Brookmeyer chaired the campuswide COVID-19 Future Planning Task Force, which provided sound evidence-based guidance for the university as we navigated through the early days of the pandemic.
Ron has provided steady leadership to the school during challenging times with his thoughtful, humble and transparent nature. Interim Chancellor Hunt and I are deeply grateful for his many contributions to the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and to the university more broadly, as well as his willingness to extend his term. We look forward to continuing to partner with him in advancing his priorities for the Fielding School.
Sincerely,
Michael S. Levine
Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost