Jonathan E. Fielding

Jonathan Fielding is a Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management and of Pediatrics in the Schools of Public Health and Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Fielding is an expert in public health preparedness and communications.

He served as Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health and for 16 years as Public Health Director and Health Officer for Los Angeles County. In this capacity, he was responsible for the county’s public health response to numerous infectious disease threats. He served as a founding member of the U.S. Clinical Preventive Services Task Force and, for 17 years, as Chair of the U.S. Task Force on Community Preventive Services. He chaired the Advisory Committee for the U.S. Healthy People 2020 objectives and is currently Co-Chair for the Healthy People 2030 objectives. He was appointed by President Barak Obama to the National Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Jonathan founded the UCLA Center for Health Advancement, which models policies and programs to cost-effectively improve health and health equity and also researches waste in medical care. He is also a founder and co-director of the UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions, which focuses on protecting human health from the harmful effects of climate change. He has authored or coauthored more than 300 original articles, commentaries, editorials and chapters on various aspects of public health, preventive medicine, health services, and health economics. He is the longstanding editor of the Annual Review of Public Health and currently writes a monthly opinion column on health issues for The Hill.  

Jonathan holds MD, MPH, and MA degrees from Harvard University and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His honors include the UCLA Medal, the Sedgwick Medal, and the Roemer, Fries and Porter prizes, as well as honorary doctorates. The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health is named for him and his wife Karin.