Dr. Adnan Hyder Named Dean of Boston University School of Public Health

Boston University has appointed Dr. Adnan Hyder as the next dean of the Boston University School of Public Health (SPH), effective August 15, 2025. Dr. Hyder succeeds Sandro Galea in the role of Robert A. Knox Professor.

A Global Health Leader

Dr. Hyder is a globally recognized physician and scholar in public health, originally hailing from Pakistan. He brings over 25 years of experience working to improve global health in low- and middle-income countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Previous Roles and Expertise

Prior to joining Boston University, Dr. Hyder served as Senior Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Professor of Global Health at the George Washington University’s (GWU) Milken Institute School of Public Health since 2018. At GWU, he led the nation’s first center dedicated to the commercial determinants of health.

Dr. Hyder’s research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, focuses on the epidemiological burden, risk factors, and interventions related to non-communicable diseases and injuries worldwide. He has authored over 400 scientific peer-reviewed papers and 30 book chapters.

Early Career and Education

Before his time at GWU, Dr. Hyder spent 20 years on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. There, he held positions as Director of the Health Systems Program, Associate Chair in the Department of International Health, and Associate Director for Global Bioethics at the JHU Berman Institute of Bioethics.

Dr. Hyder received his MD from Aga Khan University in Pakistan in 1990, followed by an MPH in 1993 and a PhD in 1998 from Johns Hopkins University.

Leadership and Recognition

Dr. Hyder is a past international president of the World Health Summit and currently chairs the Lancet Commission on Global Gun Violence and Health. He has likewise received the C. Everett Koop Medal of Distinction from SafeKids Worldwide and GWU’s Distinguished Research Career Award.

His family has a long history in medicine, with ancestors practicing Unani medicine in the Indian subcontinent for generations.