Harold D. Cox, MSSW, serves as the Associate Dean of Public Health Practice at BUSPH and as an associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Dr Cox was chief public health officer for the city of Cambridge from 1996 until he joined the BUSPH faculty. In that role, he managed all aspects of the city’s health department, including public health planning, service delivery, and regulatory activities. He has coordinated a regional emergency preparedness response for 27 local health departments and co-chaired a regional “no tobacco initiative” in 19 communities. He also facilitated citywide discussions on homelessness, developed a health-oriented walking program in Cambridge, and helped establish a Domestic Violence Free Zone. Before working for the City of Cambridge, he was director of client services for the AIDS Action Committee of Boston from 1992 to 1996.

Dr. Cox is a member of the Statewide Commission on Health Disparities, president of the Massachusetts Public Health Association, and past president of the Multicultural AIDS Coalition. He is a recipient of the Milton and Ruth Roemer Prize for Creative Local Public Health Work from the American Public Health Association and the Rebecca Lee Award for outstanding commitment to public health from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Dr. Cox graduated from North Texas State University, where he received a B.A. in Psychology. He received his MSSW at the University of Texas in Austin.