Christy Hanson named Dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship

St. Paul, Minn. — Christy Hanson has been named Dean of Macalester College’s Institute for Global Citizenship.

Currently on campus for a one-year position as the Hubert H. Humphrey Professor in International Studies, Hanson has been on leave from her position as the Chief of the Infectious Diseases Division for the Office of Health, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition (HIDN) of the Bureau for Global Health at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Beginning July 1, Hanson will oversee the IGC’s offices, which include the International Center, Internship Office, Civic Engagement Center, and Lilly Project. She will continue to teach in the International Studies department.

“I have enormous confidence in Christy’s ability to guide us through this next period in the development of the Institute for Global Citizenship,” says Macalester provost Kathleen Murray. “She brings extraordinary leadership skills, broad intellectual engagement, and a collaborative spirit, and has already proved her ability to reach out across the campus and throughout the Twin Cities community in her role as the Humphrey Chair. I am very excited about continuing our work together.”

Hanson has more than 18 years of experience in international public health, with a focus on the control of infectious diseases. She has worked in and/or supported countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America through her previous positions with the World Health Organization, World Bank, and PATH. Hanson has a PhD in international health systems, with a concentration in health economics, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and completed her Masters in Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Her independent research focuses on the dynamics between poverty, health care seeking behavior and health system response, particularly for the care of infectious diseases. She has published widely on the topics of tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases.

“When I look back, my career is a culmination of exposure to civic engagement, internships, and study abroad, linked to a strong academic foundation, which is what the IGC exemplifies,” Hanson says. “I hope to nurture Macalester’s own brand of development and global citizenship, actively engaging our talented faculty, staff and students, and showing the world what we’re all about.”

During her term as Humphrey Chair, Hanson designed and is teaching two courses, “Introduction to International Public Health” and “Poverty, Health, and Development,” in addition to supervising students through research collaborations and internships.

“Mac students bring such a multidisciplinary focus and passion to the field of public health,” Hanson says. “They think about issues in public health from so many different perspectives, making classroom discussions rich. The last six months on campus have helped me fall in love with my field again.”

Macalester College, founded in 1874, is a national liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 1,978 students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to academic excellence, internationalism, multiculturalism and civic engagement.  Learn more at macalester.edu.