Dr. Lushniak leads the School of Public Health, the University of Maryland’s youngest (est. 2007) and most racially and ethnically diverse academic college. As Dean, he has developed several new academic programs, including accelerated and dual degrees, launched a global health initiative and provided leadership in the context of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Dean Lushniak had a long career in federal service, culminating in leadership roles as U.S. deputy surgeon general (2010–15) and acting surgeon general (2013–14). In 2015, he retired as a Rear Admiral from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps where he was an officer for 27 years. Among his credits in the USPHS, he was part of the CDC/NIOSH team that responded to the devastation at Ground Zero after 9/11, served as the FDA Deputy Incident Commander for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic response and led the USPHS hospital providing care to Ebola patients in Liberia in 2015.

He earned degrees from Northwestern (bachelor’s and medical) and Harvard University (master of public health). He currently serves on the Board of Regents for the American College of Preventive Medicine.