Dean James W. Curran, Rollins School of Public Health was on of our Emory faculty named to one of the nation’s most prestigious honor societies and leading center for independent policy research, the American Academy (AAAS).  Members contribute to Academy publications and studies of science and technology policy, global security and international affairs, social policy and American institutions, and the humanities, arts, and education.

Earlier this month, the Academy collaborated with Emory to host a discussion on “Teaching and the Digital Humanities” on campus and a regional forum of the Academy’s “Lincoln Project: Excellence and Access in Public Higher Education” that is developing recommendations for ensuring future access to public universities to Americans from all backgrounds.

Dean Jim Curran joined the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) as dean and professor of epidemiology in 1995, following 25 years of leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He is the Principle Investigator and co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research, and he holds faculty appointments in the Emory School of Medicine and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.

In 1981, Dean Curran was tapped to lead a CDC task force charged with determining what was behind the first cases of what we now know as AIDS. A pioneer in HIV/AIDS prevention, Curran led the nation’s efforts in the battle against HIV/AIDS for 15 years before joining Emory. While at the CDC, he attained the rank of assistant surgeon general.

After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, Curran received his MD from the University of Michigan and a master of public health from Harvard University. He is a fellow of the American Epidemiologic Society, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Author or co-author of more than 270 scholarly publications, he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1993. He was given the Surgeon General’s Medal of Excellence in 1996 and received the John Snow Award from the American Public Health Association in 2003.