Biography

Dan Merrigan is Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Community Health Sciences. Dan was the founding director of the New England Alliance for Public Health Workforce Development and Director of the HIV/AIDS and Substance Abuse Certificate Education Program. Both projects provide innovative education/training that improve local public health infrastructure by increasing the skills and competencies of the currently employed public health workforce. Dan has been engaged in numerous research, education, training and leadership development initiatives for the past 30 years including two Robert Wood Johnson Foundation programs, the Join Together National Leadership Fellowship and the Reclaiming Futures National Leadership Fellowship. These initiatives promote shared local leadership and community-based solutions that address substance abuse, juvenile justice, public safety, emergency preparedness and other local public health issues. Dan has broad experience facilitating leadership collaborations among grassroots groups, policy advocates, the justice system, human service providers, and other community stakeholders including the business and faith community to adopt innovations that improve and protect community health. Dr. Merrigan has been a Fellow in the National Leadership Program funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. He holds Th.M. and M.Div. degrees from the Jesuit Weston School of Theology; M.P.H. and Ed.D. degrees from Boston University, an M.Ed. from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and a B.S. from Villanova University. He was also a Jesuit priest for twenty years.