Faculty

Jo Ivey Boufford

Jo Ivey Boufford, M.D. started her career as a pediatrician in the South Bronx. "When I saw all of the issues that affected children's lives and health status, I decided that I could have more impact as a manager or policymaker than as a clinician," she explains. This drive to make an impact combined with a passion for public health has led Dr, Boufford to several leadership positions in public health. Ultimately, it inspired her to co-create and co-direct NYU's Masters Program in Global Public Health.

Dr. Boufford is Professor of Public Service, Health Policy and Management at the Wagner School, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at New York University Medical School and President of the New York Academy of Medicine. She brings extensive experience in both public service and public health. She first joined NYU as Dean of the Wagner School of Public Service. Prior to coming to Wagner, Dr. Boufford served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she was the U.S. representative on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO). "My interest is international health policy, and the policy-making organizations that support each country's public health leaders," she says.

Dr. Boufford has also served as Director of the King's Fund College, London England and as President of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the largest municipal hospital system in the United States. She serves on the Boards of several non profit organizations, including the New York Academy of Medicine, the United Hospital Fund, the Primary Care Development Corporation, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the Center for Health Care Strategies, Project HOPE and the International Womens' Health Coalition. She was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 1992 and serves on its Executive Council and Board on Global Health.

An active practitioner, Dr. Boufford recently returned from a consulting assignment in Africa, where she is developing leadership capabilities in schools of public health. "If you want to be effective in improving health," says Dr. Boufford, "you have to have a global perspective."