New York, NY | January 30, 2023 – The City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) has appointed Terry M. McGovern, JD to the role of Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs.
McGovern joins CUNY SPH from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health where she was Harriet and Robert H. Heilbrunn Professor and Chair of the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health and director of the Program on Global Health Justice and Governance.
Beginning July 15, McGovern will serve as the Chief Academic Officer for the fast-growing school. She will provide intellectual and administrative leadership for academic programs, including digital learning, student services, faculty affairs, assessment and accreditation activities and international, national and local academic collaborations.
McGovern founded the HIV Law Project in 1989 and served as its executive director for a decade. She successfully litigated numerous cases against the federal, state and local governments including S.P. v. Sullivan, which forced the Social Security Administration to expand HIV-related disability criteria for women and other excluded individuals. As a member of the National Task Force on the Development of HIV/AIDS Drugs, she authored the 2001 federal regulation authorizing the FDA to halt any clinical trial for a life-threatening disease that excludes women.
McGovern’s research focuses on health and human rights, sexual and reproductive rights and health, gender justice and environmental justice, with publications appearing in journals including Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, Health and Human Rights, and the Journal of Adolescent Health.
She has served on the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, the UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health, and the UNAIDS Human Rights Reference Group. She currently serves on the UNFPA Global Advisory Council, the Council of Foreign Relations and the Board of the NYCLU.
“It is a thrill to welcome Terry to our school,” says Dean Ayman El-Mohandes. “We are confident she will be instrumental in the strategic development of our academic programs and partnerships.”
“I have long admired CUNY SPH for its commitment to social justice and health as a human right locally and globally,” says McGovern. “I am looking forward to working with faculty and students to ensure the school’s academic programs are tailored to meet the global public health challenges of tomorrow.”
About CUNY SPH
The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) is committed to promoting and sustaining healthier populations in New York City and around the world through excellence in education, research and service in public health and by advocating for sound policy and practice to advance social justice and improve health outcomes for all. sph.cuny.edu
