Biostatistician brings leadership and scholarly achievement to role
Melody Goodman, a leading biostatistician and research methodologist, has been named dean of the NYU School of Global Public Health, President Linda G. Mills and Provost Georgina Dopico announced today.
Goodman has been a member of the School of Global Public Health faculty since 2017 and has served as its interim dean since March 2024; her appointment as dean is effective immediately.
“As the School of Global Public Health continues to shape a healthier and safer world through its scholarship and expertise, it is in excellent hands with Melody Goodman at the helm as dean. She has demonstrated outstanding leadership at NYU and brings an ideal mix of experience, respect of her colleagues, and scholarly achievement to the role,” said President Mills.
Dean Goodman said, “It is an immense privilege to step into this role at a critical time for global public health, and as the School celebrates its 10th anniversary, building on nearly a century of public health teaching and scholarship at NYU. I am honored to continue working with our stellar faculty, staff, and students to improve the health of communities—locally and globally—and cultivate the next generation of public health leaders by equipping them with the tools to tackle complex health challenges and drive impactful change.”
Goodman’s research focuses on improving public health using approaches to engage partners outside of academia and move beyond defining problems to develop solutions. She has published more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, with contributions spanning the areas of prevention, treatment, intervention, and policy, and authored two books on biostatistics and research methods. She is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, a member of the American Public Health Association, a fellow of the American Statistical Association, and is the recipient of many awards and honors.
Prior to becoming the interim dean at the NYU School of Global Public Health, Goodman served in numerous academic leadership roles, including senior executive vice dean, vice dean for research, associate dean for research, and interim chair of the Department of Biostatistics. She joined NYU from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, where she was an assistant professor in the Division of Public Health Sciences in the Department of Surgery, and was previously an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Stony Brook University’s School of Medicine.
Goodman earned her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Stony Brook University, where she was named a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her master's degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and her PhD from Harvard University.