William L. Roper has been named dean of the School of Public Health and professor of public health and administration. He also will be recommended as professor of pediatrics.
Roper, a pediatrician with a master's degree in public health, served as director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, the federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid. He also served on the White House staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
Most recently, Roper was senior vice president for Prudential HealthCare, a New Jersey-based national health-care management company.
Chancellor Michael Hooker said Roper's diverse experience in both the government and private health sectors would benefit the School of Public Health.
"Dr. Roper brings valuable administrative and leadership skills to our highly respected School of Public Health," Hooker said. "As Carolina's faculty members continually seek ways to better serve the state and pursue research and learning most relevant to its residents, it's only appropriate that we tap experts from all employment sectors to help us accomplish these goals. The school's quest or excellence will be affirmed and encouraged through Dr. Roper's leadership."
Roper is immediate past president of the Association for Health Services Research, chairman of Partnership for Prevention and a board member of the Milbank Memorial Fund.
An author or co-author of nearly 50 articles, Roper has won numerous distinguished service awards from the U.S. Public Health Service, the Association for Health Services Research, the National Association of Health Data Organizations, Emory University and the University of Alabama. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association.
The School of Public Health, recently ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the top publicly supported public health school in the nation, has eight academic units: biostatistics, environmental sciences and engineering, epidemiology, health behavior and health education, health policy and administration, the interdisciplinary curriculum in practice and leadership, maternal and child health and nutrition.
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