Boston, Mass., Nov. 8, 2006 – The American Public Health Association (APHA) today named Deborah Klein Walker, EdD, president during the Association’s 134th Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Walker is a vice president and principal associate in the health division of Abt Associates Inc., an employee-owned company in Cambridge, Mass., that applies scientific research and technical assistance expertise to a wide range of social, economic and technological policy issues. Walker previously spent 15 years with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where she was associate commissioner for programs and prevention and interim director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services. Elected last year as president-elect, she succeeds APHA immediate past president Patricia Mail, MPH, PhD, CHES.
“I am pleased to assume this new opportunity of leadership within APHA,” Walker said. “I look forward to working with the Association’s officials and members in furthering our mission to make the nation healthier and to address preventable health threats.”
Walker began her career in public health as special assistant to the director of the office of research and evaluation planning at the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and later served as a consultant on youth and family issues. She is a nationally respected researcher in child development, community programs and public health, and a leader in building statewide systems of care for women, children, youth and families.
Walker is a founding member of and current senior advisor to New England SERVE in Boston, an independent health research and planning organization with a focus on children with special health care needs, a board trustee of the Cambridge Health Alliance and a past president of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs.
“Dr. Walker is a well-respected expert in public health with a demonstrated commitment to improving the well-being of Americans,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, APHA executive director. “I look forward to working with her in our efforts to promote preventive health measures among our nation’s people.”
Walker is also an adjunct lecturer on society, human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health and an adjunct professor of maternal and child health at Boston University School of Public Health.
Walker earned a doctorate in human development and a master’s degree in education from Harvard University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. Walker recently received the Vince L. Hutchins Partnership Award for outstanding partnership and collaborations in maternal and child health.