UW News

July 9, 2019

Alison Cullen named interim dean of UW Evans School of Public Policy & Governance

UW News

Alison Cullen has been named interim dean of the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, Provost Mark A. Richards announced earlier this month. Her appointment, set to begin Sept. 1, is subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents.

Cullen currently holds the Daniel J. Evans Endowed Professorship of Public Policy and Governance and is a decorated scholar and long-serving faculty member.

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Alison CullenDennis Wise/University of Washington

“President Cauce and I are so grateful to Alison for bringing her leadership experience and commitment to excellent teaching and scholarship with impact to her leadership of the Evans School, and we appreciate the widespread and enthusiastic support for her appointment among our faculty colleagues,” Richards said.

Cullen has served the Evans School with distinction since she joined the faculty in 1995, including terms as associate dean and graduate program coordinator. She has published many scholarly works related to her research areas, which focus on environmental and human health policy, wildfire risk management and climate impacts. She also holds adjunct professor appointments in the School of Public Health and the College of the Environment.

She is the recipient of the Society for Risk Analysis Distinguished Educator Award, has twice received the Evans Student Organization Excellence in Instruction Award and also received the 2016 Evans School Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Award. Among her numerous awards and recognitions for scholarship, Cullen was an NSF Faculty Fellow in the Advanced Study Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a visiting fellow at Boston’s Health Effects Institute and the recipient of the Society of Toxicology Award for a Publication Demonstrating Applied Risk Assessment. She is active in risk assessment and management efforts in the U.S. and internationally, including serving on the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and conducting wildfire risk management research with the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

“I am excited to work with students, staff, faculty and community stakeholders during this transition year at the Evans School, in a critical period for scholarship and action in the public and nonprofit sectors. The Evans School has a proud history of excellence in providing evidence-based solutions to societal challenges, and an inspiring future rising from a passionate call for justice, equity and inclusion in public policy and governance,” Cullen said.

Cullen received her bachelor’s in civil/environmental engineering from MIT and holds both a masters of science in environmental health science, exposure assessment and engineering and a doctor of science in environmental health management from Harvard University School of Public Health, where she also previously served on the faculty.

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