Ever wonder what makes PSU’s academic leaders tick? What books line their shelves, what inspired them to pursue their field and what visions they have for PSU’s future? Inside Portland State’s new “Deans Decoded” series takes you behind the scenes into the offices of Portland State’s distinguished deans. Join us as we decode the personalities behind the titles, one dean at a time.
Dean Paul Halverson came to Portland from Indianapolis in February 2024 to lead the Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State University joint School of Public Health. Having served as the founding dean at Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, a state health officer for the State of Indiana and Arkansas, a federal health official for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and a hospital president, he brought with him a wealth of experience and a focus on community service. Since joining PSU, he has honed that focus, signing the first ever formal agreement with Multnomah County to be its academic partner on public health. He’s also working hard to share his passion for public health with students, preparing them for careers in a field they might not have previously considered. On that note: Don’t be surprised if you find Dean Halverson in your podcast feed later this year!
Inside Portland State’s Ruben Gill Herrera sat down with Dean Halverson to chat about his background and the things he’s looking forward to this year at PSU. Watch the video or read the full interview below to learn more.
RGH: Can you tell us about one of your favorite things on your desk?
PH: Let me tell you about this walking stick. It was given to me by a citizen when I was appointed by the governor in Arkansas as the state health officer. It was really special because this was a piece of lumber, or a stick actually, from a tree that had been underwater in his lake for over 20 years. He pulled this out and I think it's got about 12 coats of varnish on it, but it was emblematic for me as a leader, as the state health officer, to have something I can lean on.
As you can see, it's got little twists and turns and crooks and crannies, and that's sort of the way leadership is. You never know exactly where you're going to find yourself and you need to be able to adapt and move. It was also given to me, I think, out of an interest in the work that I do in public health and to support my leadership role so it's very special.
RGH: What's one fun fact that people should know about public health?
PH: Well, public health is all about protecting and improving the health of the public. Most people have no idea what we do in public health. But, as an example, I mentioned I was the state health officer in Arkansas. As the state health officer, I had responsibility for licensing and regulating all of the plumbers and heating and ventilation contractors in the state, in addition to all of the other public health things.
And you'd say, ‘Well, why is that?’ Well, it comes back to the fundamental reason why we have plumbing regulations, and why we have heating, ventilation and air conditioning regulations. Because those things that are the environmental factors that surround where we work and where we live are very fundamental to our health and well-being. Most people don't know that. Now, you don't have to regulate the plumbers to actually acknowledge the importance of environmental health, but that's just an example of what we do in public health.
RGH: That's excellent. Can you tell us a bit about this mic?
PH: When I was in Indiana and in Arkansas, I had a podcast program that I did. We haven't started it here yet, but the idea is to have a regular podcast around topics in public health. We're looking forward to getting started sometime next year. There's a lot that we could share about public health, and that's part of our role is to provide information to the public around aspects of this field.
Podcast audio equipment
RGH: Can you talk about these dolls here?
PH: Oh. The trolls? Yeah. Well, these are my trolls. They were given to me by my kids and my grandkids. These actually represent a couple of things. One is that you can see the health theme but, beyond that, trolls are really important in Scandinavian history. My grandparents immigrated from Sweden and we have a strong Swedish heritage. I've done a lot of work in Sweden over the years. These trolls are just a reminder of my heritage and a great gift from my grandkids in particular. They get a kick out of them.
Dean Paul Halverson with his wife Andrea and two grandchildren
RGH: Where did you grow up?
PH: My family came from Sweden and immigrated to Duluth, Minnesota. It couldn't get much colder. But then, ultimately, they moved to Southern California, and that's where my mom and dad met and started their family. I'm the first of three boys. We grew up in Southern California. We moved to Arizona when I was in high school.
RGH: Where has your professional life taken you?
PH: We’ve lived pretty much all over the United States. I got my first job as a hospital administrator in Minnesota, and then I was president of the hospital system in Michigan and moved to North Carolina to get my doctorate in public health. I was recruited to the CDC in Atlanta, and then from there to Arkansas as the state health officer, and then to Indiana as the founding dean at the School of Public Health there at the Fairbanks School in Indianapolis. I've been here since February of 2024. So I'm wonderfully happy to be in Portland, and I'm just so excited about what's happening in Oregon in public health.
Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health on a study abroad trip to Sweden" class="caption caption-drupal-media">
Dean Paul Halverson with public health students from the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health on a study abroad trip to Sweden
RGH: What are you most passionate about?
PH: I'm really passionate about public health in large part because public health is about everyone, not just us and our immediate families. It’s about our community and the people that we live around and with. And it's about the way in which we can help provide the opportunity for everyone to have a full and beautiful life.
And it is about preventing disease. It's about maintaining health. It also is about providing and making sure that everyone has access to healthcare. So it is really about strengthening our community and, increasingly, we recognize that public health is also about aging. It's about our older people and our younger people coming together and living a healthy life.
So it's this whole notion around quality of life, both mentally and physically, that is really important. We're at a point where our surgeon general has declared loneliness as an epidemic. And so we need to live into that. We need to figure out ways in which we can help support each other in our community where we live and work and play, and be able to find ways in which we can improve the quality of life for everyone.
So that's a big part of what public health is, and I'm so excited to share that. I don't think that most students coming to PSU really understand what public health is and what the opportunities are. It's foundational to all of our healthcare professions.
RGH: Who has inspired your career?
PH: Frankly, to be honest, my grandmother. My grandmother was so important to me because she helped me realize that I could do anything, and that she believed in me, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the opportunity. She was always so positive and believed in me and created a sense of drive and an interest in achieving things.
I've also been the beneficiary of great friendships and support over the years from people in the field like my friend Hugh Tilson. Dr. Tilson was one of the early pioneers in public health. He was actually one of the co-authors of the seminal work and the future of public health. He was a Reed College graduate and the Multnomah County Health Officer. He served for a number of years as the state health officer in North Carolina and has been in many different roles in public health.
Catching up with Oregonian colleagues Racheal Banks, Multnomah County Public Health Director, Richard Bruno, Multnomah County Health Department Health Officer, Naomi Adeline-Biggs, Public Health Division Director at the Oregon Health Authority, and Hugh Tilson, Dean Halverson’s senior advisor and former Multnomah County (OR) Health Officer and Human Services Director.
He took an interest in me early on and helped me understand the importance of the work that we're doing in public health and how it meshes with our health system and the importance of taking a system perspective. That system perspective has been the hallmark of my career.
RGH: What are you most excited about?
PH: I'm excited about being in Portland. I'm excited about being on the campus of PSU and that the joint school between OHSU and PSU offers an incredible opportunity for our students. We have the strength of one of the country's strongest academic health centers and the research that's done at OHSU, along with the urban serving institution that we have here at PSU.
We have an incredible faculty and staff and students who really bring their best to the classroom and to the work that they're doing in learning about public health. It is a real gift to be able to come together and learn about public health, to prepare for a career in public health or, foundationally, to think about public health as the base upon which to build a clinical career.
I'm also excited, frankly, about the fact that we're celebrating our 10th anniversary this year —10 years as an accredited school of public health. We just got our rankings. We're in the top 25 of schools of public health in the nation. That's up from 29 the year before. So, we're excited about the recognition by our peer institutions about the value of the work that we do.
I'm also excited about working with our local health department. We have a new academic health department designation with the Multnomah County Health Department. We're working very closely with the Oregon Health Authority and other local health departments all around the state, and want to be the resource for public health professionals throughout the state. Our students who come to us as undergraduates or graduate students, but also, people who are working in public health that need a degree or some additional training. We want to be the resource, a partner, really, with public health agencies and a resource to our legislators and policymakers when it comes to public health policy.
We really lean into that mission to Let Knowledge Serve the City. We think that the work that we do here can be an advantage for the growth and prosperity of our city and state
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Photography in Dean Halverson's Office by Jeremy Chun Sajqui