F. DuBois Bowman, Ph.D. ‘92

A renowned expert in the statistical analysis of large complex data sets, F. DuBois Bowman is dean of the University of Michigan (UM) School of Public Health. He joined the school in 2018 and leads the organization with expertise in biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health behavior and health education, health management and policy, and nutritional sciences. 

Dr. Bowman’s research program mines massive data sets and has important implications for mental and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, and substance addiction. His work also explores the impact of environmental exposures on brain function and structure in youth. His research has helped reveal brain patterns that reflect disruption from psychiatric diseases, detect biomarkers for neurological diseases, and determine more individualized therapeutic treatments.  

Under Dr. Bowman’s leadership, Michigan Public Health launched a school-wide interdisciplinary research initiative pursuing innovative solutions to prevent firearm injuries, create healthy and equitable cities, control infectious diseases, and pursue health equity. The school’s research portfolio exceeds $100 million in expenditures annually. The school has also expanded and refined its distinctive educational programs, which support over 1200 students. Partnering with the school community, Dr. Bowman has also led efforts to establish a culture of leadership, service, and inclusion.

Dean Bowman is an active participant in numerous cross campus activities at the University of Michigan. He has provided leadership on university initiatives focusing on Precision Health, Poverty Solutions, the Graham Sustainability Institute, and the UM Health Sciences Council, and has supported university efforts focusing on budget, capital projects, professional standards, enrollment management, and the capital campaign. He also provided institutional leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and served on university committees to guide the institutional response. 

Dr. Bowman received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Morehouse College, a Master of Science degree in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2000, he joined the Department of Biostatistics in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University as an assistant professor and rose through the ranks to professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics in 2013. During his time at Emory, he was a visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon University in 2000, and a visiting assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University in 2005. From 2007-2013 he was the founding director of the Center for Biomedical Imaging Statistics at the Rollins School at Emory. From 2014-2018, Professor Bowman was chair of the Department of Biostatistics in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, where he served as the Cynthia and Robert Citrone-Roslyn and Leslie Goldstein Professor of Biostatistics. 

Dean Bowman is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA), and he is past president of the Eastern North American Region (ENAR) of the International Biometric Society. He is a member of the editorial board for the Annual Review of Statistics and Its Applications and has served as associate editor of both Biometrics and the Journal of the American Statistical Association as well as a referee for numerous professional journals, including Human Brain Mapping, NeuroImage, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, and Journal of Clinical Oncology. Throughout his career, he has served on review boards for the NIH and NAM, as well as on advisory committees for NIH, Emory University, Columbia University, and professional societies (ASA and ENAR).