Rutgers School of Public Health Dean to Receive Honorary Doctorate from University of West Attica

Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health, will receive an honorary doctorate from the Department of Public Health Policy at the School of Public Health at the University of West Attica in Athens, Greece.

Following the University of West Attica Department of Public Health Policy's unanimous recommendation, the proposal was endorsed by the school of public health's governing body and unanimously approved by the university’s Senate. The Senate recognized Halkitis as an outstanding leader whose work and service have made meaningful contributions to society.

For Halkitis, a Greek American whose personal and professional identities have long shaped his approach to public health, the recognition carries particular significance. His mother and father both immigrated to the United States during their adolescence, and Halkitis was educated at a Greek-American day school in New York City.

The honor also comes at a defining moment in his career, as his current work calls for a more human-centered approach to public health. An approach that, in his own words, “looks beyond disease and more fully considers the social, behavioral, cultural, and lived experiences that shape health and well-being.”

“The Department of Public Health Policy is honored to welcome Dean Halkitis into its academic community as an Honorary Doctor,” said George Koulierakis, professor at the University of West Attica School of Public Health. “This distinction not only recognizes his outstanding contributions to public health, research, and education but also symbolizes the strong and enduring partnership between the University of West Attica School of Public Health and the Rutgers School of Public Health. Building on the active partnership between the two schools, the Halkitis’ honorary doctorate further reinforces their shared commitment to academic excellence, collaborative research, and the advancement of global public health.” 

Halkitis will travel to Athens in November to formally receive the degree and give an address at the University of West Attica. While in Greece, he will also deliver a keynote at the 6th Panhellenic Conference on Clinical and Health Psychology.

“Receiving this recognition in Greece, as a Greek American, is deeply meaningful to me,” said Halkitis. “My heritage has shaped who I am and how I think about public health and the people and populations I have spent my life working for. For more than 30 years, I have tried to understand health through the lives of people—not simply through the diseases they may experience. That is really what I mean when I talk about humanizing public health. We need to understand people in the context of their families, their communities, their identities, and the conditions in which they live. I am incredibly honored to receive this degree and especially grateful to accept it in Greece.”

Halkitis has led the Rutgers School of Public Health since 2017. He is also the Hunterdon Professor of Public Health & Health Equity and Distinguished Professor of Biostatistics & Epidemiology. An infectious disease epidemiologist, applied statistician, and public health psychologist, his research has long focused on infectious diseases and health disparities, particularly among marginalized sexual, gender, racial, ethnic, and cultural populations. His work also spans LGBTQ+ health, aging, substance use, implementation science, and applied public health statistical methods.

Much of that work comes back to a fairly simple idea: disease does not happen separately from the rest of a person’s life.

It is an idea Halkitis takes up directly in his newest book, Humanizing Public Health: How Disease-Centered Approaches Have Failed Us. The book argues for a public health approach that pays closer attention to the people experiencing illness and the social conditions, identities, relationships, and communities that influence their health.

The book is his sixth. Halkitis has also published more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers over the course of his career. He founded and directs the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior & Prevention Studies.

Halkitis’ work has also taken him well beyond research and the classroom. Halkitis served as chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health from 2023 to 2024 and is an elected fellow of several professional organizations, including the New York Academy of Medicine, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the American Epidemiological Society, the National Academy of Practice, the European Academy of Translational Medicine, and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

He has also made public engagement a regular part of his career, speaking about health, equity, infectious disease, and LGBTQ+ health through television, radio, podcasts, print media, and other public forums.

The honorary doctorate adds to a career of recognition for Halkitis’ contributions to scholarship, mentorship, public health practice, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. In 2023, Rutgers established the Perry N. Halkitis Endowed Chair in LGBTQ+ Public Health through a landmark $5 million gift from Jim Dougherty.