Nov. 2, 2021

Enid Schatz will step down as chair of the Department of Public Health in Summer 2022 in order to focus on research. School of Health Professions Dean Kristofer Hagglund will initiate a national search for a new department chair before the end of this year.

“I’m grateful for all of the work Dr. Schatz has done to grow our Public Health degree programs and increase the visibility of Public Health at Mizzou,” Dean Hagglund said. “The Department of Public Health has a very bright future.”

Dr. Schatz is a professor of Public Health and core faculty in the Department of Women’s & Gender Studies. She studies the health and well-being of older people with HIV in South Africa and Uganda, and she is building on the MU COVID-19 research initiated in 2020 to look at intergenerational communication about vaccines and health behaviors.

During her time as chair, Dr. Schatz successfully united public health bachelor’s and master’s degree programs into one department. Dr. Schatz and her administrative team grew the new BHS in Public Health to nearly 100 majors and increased online MPH program enrollment. Her accomplishments span the university’s missions:

• TEACHING: Under her leadership, the Department expanded the number and breadth of courses on Public Health, and connected with other units on campus to create interdisciplinary undergraduate certificates. At the onset of the pandemic, in a matter of weeks, she pulled together experts from across campus to create a summer 2020 course on COVID-19.
• RESEARCH: She was involved with multiple MU COVID-19 research programs, including leading the MU COVID-19 Seropositivity & Risk Study in Fall 2020, which involved collecting survey, serology and qualitative data on the COVID-19 experiences of MU faculty, staff and students.
• SERVICE: She contributed to the Population Health pillar of the NextGen Precision Health Initiative and to COVID-19 task forces on campus. She has mentored numerous SHP faculty; she also mentors Public Health graduate and undergraduate students via teaching and independent research opportunities.
• EXTENSION: She built links with MU Extension, particularly in Community Health. In collaboration with the other Public Health faculty, she expanded the reach of the department through grants and contracts related to immunization, addiction and recovery, HIV, and COVID-19.