Following nearly eight years of leadership at the UAB School of Public Health, Paul Erwin, M.D., DrPH, has announced plans to retire as dean as of Sept. 30, 2026. Erwin has led the school to new heights since taking the reins in 2018, expanding academic programs, growing the faculty and staff, and elevating its national profile.
“It has been my deep good fortune to have had the opportunity to serve the School of Public Health as dean,” Erwin said. “The commitment to the mission of UAB is inspiring, and it has been a privilege to work alongside such highly motivated students, staff and faculty.”
Erwin, also a professor in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, credits the support of UAB administration as well as that of his faculty, staff and students for the School of Public Health’s remarkable success during his tenure. He refers to his time as dean as “a calling realized” rather than a job.
“I have particularly enjoyed working alongside, and getting to know, incredibly bright people across campus on a daily basis,” Erwin said.
Under Erwin’s deanship, the school achieved its highest ranking by U.S. News & World Report (#14 nationally among 224 ranked, accredited schools and programs) and added three Distinguished Professors and three University Professors.
“Dean Erwin’s leadership has strengthened every dimension of the School of Public Health — from student success and faculty excellence to national recognition,” said Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Janet Woodruff-Borden, Ph.D. “His vision, integrity and impact have elevated the school to unprecedented heights and positioned UAB as a national leader in public health and research. We are profoundly grateful for his service and lasting impact.”
Erwin earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the South (Sewanee), his Doctor of Medicine degree from the UAB School of Medicine, a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, and his Doctor of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Erwin’s first foray into public health was in Pakistan, where he served as an International Health Fellow in Community Health Sciences at Aga Khan University in Karachi. He later landed public health positions in Tennessee and North Carolina, including health department staff physician, regional health officer and ultimately regional director for the Tennessee Department of Health’s East TN Regional Office. He was professor and founding director of the University of Tennessee’s Center for Public Health and professor and founding department head of the University of Tennessee’s Department of Public Health in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.
Among his many contributions to his field, Erwin was part of a team that identified a new mosquito vector for La Crosse encephalitis in the 1990s. He was also a pivotal member of the national workgroup that developed Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships, or MAPP, the most commonly used framework for community health assessment. He is an associate editor of the American Journal of Public Health, has written multiple textbooks and scholarly articles, and has worked with colleagues in Cuba to document and study its public health system.
Reflecting on the evolution of the field of public health, Erwin emphasized the growing partnership between academic public health and governmental public health agencies, encouraging future public health professionals to pursue community engagement to achieve maximum impact.
“I have spent my entire career — whether as a practitioner or as an academician — trying to bring these two worlds together in closer alignment,” Erwin said. “Through the establishment of the concept of the Academic Health Department, I have experienced a much greater alliance and mutual recognition that each has something of value to offer and learn from the other.”
Erwin will remain in his position through September 2026 while a national search for the next dean is conducted.