Dr. Melissa Begg, vice dean for education at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health for the past four years, has been recruited to take on a new position in the Columbia University Provost’s office. Effective July 1, Dr. Begg will become Columbia University’s vice provost for educational programs. Her selection for the university vice provost role reflects her accomplishments at the Mailman School and the School’s reputation across the university and beyond for bold and innovative educational approaches.

In this new role, Dr. Begg will be responsible for advancing interschool and interdisciplinary educational initiatives, as well as for developing, implementing, and monitoring education and continuing education program proposals, distance education programs, partnerships with U.S. and foreign universities, and contractual agreements with other schools, universities, organizations, or agencies where students fulfill part of their education requirements. She will also direct the University’s reaccreditation process through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which universities must undertake every 10 years. These duties are currently part of the portfolio of Columbia University’s Vice Provost for Academic Administration, Dr. Stephen Rittenberg, who will retire at the end of the 2014-2015 academic year. Dr. Rittenberg’s role is being restructured into two roles – a Vice Provost for Educational Programs and a Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.

“I have long believed in the Mailman School’s potential to emerge as the leading school in public health education; in her role as Vice Dean, Dr. Begg has worked with her wonderful colleagues in the Office of Education and our superb faculty to deliver on that promise,” said Mailman School Dean Linda Fried, and DeLamar Professor of Public Health.

Dr. Begg came to the Mailman School in 1989 and joined the dean’s office in 2008 as associate dean for interdisciplinary programs. She was promoted to vice dean for education two years later.

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