Executive Leadership & Expert Bios

Howell Wechsler, EdD, MPH

Director, Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP)

 

Dr. Howell Wechsler joined the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) as a health scientist in 1995 and was named Director in November 2005. He supervises the management of DASH’s three surveillance systems (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, School Health Policies and Practices Study, and School Health Profiles); research and evaluation studies; research synthesis reports; development and dissemination of tools to help schools and community programs implement evidence-based policies and practices; and programmatic activities, including funding of, and technical assistance to, state and local education agencies and nongovernmental organizations. In previous DASH positions, Dr. Wechsler has provided technical assistance to CDC’s school health surveillance instruments and coordinated projects that promote the implementation of CDC’s School Health Guidelines. He is also the lead author of CDC’s Guidelines for School Health Programs to Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating and played a leading role in the development of the School Health Index: A Self-Assessment and Planning Guide.

Dr. Wechsler has received a number of professional honors including the William A. Howe Award in 2012, the highest honor from the American School Health Association; the Milton J.E. Senn Award in 2006 from the American Academy of Pediatrics for achievement in the field of school health; the William G. Anderson Award in 2005 from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance in recognition of meritorious service to the profession of health education, physical education, recreation, and dance; and the Secretary’s Award for Innovations in Health from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in 1991.

Before joining CDC in 1995, Dr. Wechsler served for six years as Project Director of the Washington Heights-Inwood Healthy Heart Program in New York City. This community-based cardiovascular disease prevention program was affiliated with Columbia University, where Dr. Wechsler taught courses in health communications.

Dr. Wechsler earned a doctorate in health education from Teachers College, Columbia University, a master of public health degree from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He entered the field of public health during his service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire.

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