Officials named Kelly Gebo the next dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health in a release Thursday.
Gebo will come to GW on Oct. 1 from Johns Hopkins University, where she serves as a professor in the school of medicine and the deputy director of the university’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Gebo will replace current Dean Lynn Goldman, who held the position since 2010 and grew the school’s endowment to over $130 million while overseeing its separation from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2011.
Officials initially slated Goldman’s last day for June 30 — which former Provost Chris Bracey also told the Faculty Senate in May — but she will now remain in her role until Gebo takes over in October, per the announcement. University President Ellen Granberg said at the Board of Trustees meeting in May that officials hoped to name the new Milken dean “before the summer.”
“It is a privilege to lead the Milken Institute School of Public Health and to build upon the extraordinary legacy of Dean Goldman, who elevated the school to national prominence,” Gebo said in the release.
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Gebo will lead Milken through a period of turbulence as the University grapples with the impact of President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal research funding, which federal courts continue to weigh. GW joined a lawsuit in February against the National Institutes of Health over “devastating” cuts impacting medical research.
Since Trump took office in January, the NIH has cut funding for at least 47 GW-affiliated research projects. Officials in June said GW is “closely monitoring” legal proceedings after a district court judge ruled that certain cuts related to diversity, equity and inclusion illegal.
Gebo grew the public health undergraduate studies major at Johns Hopkins to the largest major on campus when she led the program from 2005 to 2016, according to the release. She also served as Johns Hopkins’ inaugural vice provost for education from 2014 to 2017, where she oversaw the undergraduate and graduate programs of all nine divisions of the university.
Gebo earned a bachelor’s degree, Master of Public Health and medical degree from Johns Hopkins, per her LinkedIn.
She will also serve as a professor of epidemiology, the announcement states.
Gebo joined the All of Us Research Program at the NIH in 2018, where she worked with NIH senior leadership and across federal health agencies to advance precision medicine research until 2020. She was also inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2013.
Goldman said in April during an interview with The Hatchet that Milken’s next dean will have to decide where to lead the school based on new problems that “well from the grassroots” in the public health field, as well as from their own perspective and interests in the field.
“They’re going to need to work with our faculty, but at the same time, they will be bringing their own point of view and hopefully some strong sense of direction for where public health is going in general, in our country and globally, that they can help to put an imprint on that,” Goldman said.
A committee of Milken faculty, trustees, staff, students and an alumna led the national search for the new dean. Granberg said in the announcement that Gebo brings a “distinguished record” of academic leadership and is looking forward to working with her.
“Her bold vision for the future of public health embraces science and innovation, fosters collaboration and prepares students to lead in an increasingly complex global health landscape,” Granberg said.