Leah Devlin

Leah M. Devlin, DDS, MPH, is a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. She joined the school in 2009. In addition to engaging faculty, students, and staff in fostering solutions to complex public health problems in North Carolina, Devlin works to raise the visibility of the Gillings School among state and national leaders.

Prior to joining the Gillings School, Devlin served from 2001 to 2009 as the state health director in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Before that, she served as the director of the Wake County Health Department in Raleigh, N.C., for 10 years. Additionally, Devlin has served as a consultant to RTI International, one of the world’s leading research institutes, located in Research Triangle Park, N.C; the Milbank Memorial Fund; and the Aspen Institute.

At the national level, Devlin serves as board chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation and on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Previously she served on the Public Health Accreditation Board and is a past president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Directors.

Within North Carolina, Devlin currently serves on the Campbell University Board of Trustees and the North Carolina Delta Dental Board. Her honors include recognition from numerous professional associations for her contributions to public health, and in 2008 she received the University of North Carolina’s distinguished alumni award. Devlin earned her bachelor’s, dental, and master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.