Michael Eriksen, Sc.D.

Dr. Michael Eriksen is Interim Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Georgia State University. Additionally, he is Regents’ Professor and founding Dean of the School of Public Health. He was also director of Georgia State University’s Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (TCORS). Prior to his current positions, Eriksen served as a senior advisor to the World Health Organization in Geneva and was the longest-serving director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health (1992-2000). Previously, Eriksen was director of behavioral research at the M.D Anderson Cancer Center. He has recently served as an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Legacy Foundation, and the CDC Foundation. Eriksen has published extensively on tobacco prevention and control and is the lead author of The Tobacco Atlas. He has served as an expert witness on behalf of the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission in litigation against the tobacco industry. He is editor-in-chief of Health Education Research and has been designated as a Distinguished Cancer Scholar by the Georgia Cancer Coalition. He is a recipient of the WHO Commemorative Medal on Tobacco or Health and a Presidential Citation for Meritorious Service, awarded by President Bill Clinton. Eriksen is a past president and Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Public Health Education, and has been a member of the American Public Health Association for over 40 years.