Dr. Jonathan Fielding to deliver 2025 UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Commencement address
Dr. Jonathan Fielding will deliver the keynote address for the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s 2025 Commencement Ceremony on Friday, June 13.
Dr. Fielding is a distinguished professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at UCLA Fielding and of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is an expert in public health preparedness and communication. Prior to becoming a full professor at UCLA, he served as Commissioner of Public Health for Massachusetts.
For 16 years, Dr. Fielding was Public Health Director and Health Officer for Los Angeles County. In this capacity, he was responsible for Los Angeles County’s public health response to the full range of chronic and infectious diseases, as well as the social and environmental threats to our collective health.
Dr. Fielding is a national leader in identifying the quality of evidence for disease prevention and health promotion interventions targeting populations. In this role, Dr. Fielding 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 has made important contributions to the Healthy People objective setting process. He was appointed by President Barack 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.
“Dr. Jonathan Fielding is a public health visionary who has contributed to the health and wellness of millions of Americans during his remarkable career to date,” said UCLA Fielding School of Public Health dean and distinguished professor of biostatistics Dr. Ron Brookmeyer. “As a public health leader, he is an indefatigable advocate for urgently addressing climate change in relation to human health, and at our school he continues to support the next generation of public health leaders with unwavering care and dedication. I am thrilled that Dr. Fielding will deliver this year’s commencement address and join us in honoring the Class of 2025 as they begin their own journeys as public health professionals.”
At the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Dr. Fielding is 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 also co-founded the UCLA Center for Health Advancement, which models policies and programs to cost-effectively improve health and health equity, and undertakes research on waste in medical care. He is both a longtime faculty member and supporter of the school, which is named for him and his wife Karin.
Dr. Fielding 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 has written a monthly column on health issues for The Hill and U.S. News &World Report. Dr. Fielding 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.