About Helen H. Marshak, PhD

I am honored to serve as the Associate Provost of Loma Linda University. I served as the Dean of the LLU School of Public Health from 2015-2022. My research and practice interests include evaluation of tobacco control programs for the States of California and Washington, and more broadly, identifying social and personal factors that place people at risk, or generate resilience. I have served as an external evaluator on multiple California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) projects over the last two decades, primarily for the local lead agencies of the Inland Empire in Southern California. I have also served as an exam item writer on the first National Board of Public Health Education CPH Exam, for the behavioral and social science section, and as Vice Chair of the LLU Institutional Review Board for over a decade. I served as an ASPPH-appointed councilor on the CEPH Board of Councilors (CEPH is the accrediting body for academic public health programs) in 2022, and a site visitor on several CEPH accreditation site visits over the past decade. I served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at LLU SPH prior to becoming Dean, and as a faculty member in the area of health education since I arrived at LLU.

I received a B.S. in Psychology from Pacific Union College in Angwin, California, followed by a M.S. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology, with a minor in Health Services, from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. I am also credentialed as a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES) by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.

The greatest priviledge I have had is to teach in public health for over three decades. I am inspired by our students, and the passion they have for the field and how they can make a difference in growing health communities, workplaces and homes.