Dr. Robert J. McDermott received his B.S. in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1975. He subsequently earned his M.S. in 1977 and his Ph.D. in 1981, both in

health education Health education is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health, as well as sexual and r ...

/curriculum and instruction from the same school. In 1981 he joined the faculty of the Department of Health Education at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

, Carbondale as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1985. While at SIUC he studied

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

under Robert Gold, David Duncan, and other notables. Prof. McDermott came to the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

College of Public Health in 1986 as associate professor of

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

and was promoted to full professor in 1992. He served as Assistant Dean for Research during the 1992-1993 academic year. He became Chair of the Department of Community and Family Health in 1993, serving until 2003, when he became Assistant Dean for Health Information and Communication. In 1998, he led a College-wide effort that resulted in USF being awarded one of the nine Prevention Research Centers funded by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(CDC). Since that time he has co-directed the Florida Prevention Research Center, which is charged with developing and evaluating a community-based prevention marketing (CBPM) model. CBPM is an example of community-based participatory research that blends social marketing theories and techniques and community organization principles to guide voluntary health behavior change. He has served as a member of the CDC's invited working group tasked to define health education in the 21st century and has been a consultant to the CDC's Division of School Health for collaboration with the

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. He has also been a visiting professor at two German universities, the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

and the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

. He was Chair of the School Health Education and Services Section of the American Public Health Association and Chair of the Research Council of the

American School Health Association The American School Health Association (ASHA) is a professional association. It claims a membership of 1,000 members in all 50 US states and other nations. More than half practice in K-12 schools or administer health education or health services ...

. Dr. McDermott was the founding editor of the ''Florida Public Health Review'' in 2003. He has been the editor-in-chief of ''Journal of School Health Education'' since 2011, and senior consulting editor of ''Health Behavior and Policy Review''. In addition, Dr. McDermott is on the editorial board of the ''Journal of Health, Environment and Education'' (Germany). In addition to approximately 300 scientific articles, he has three books to his credit: ''Health Education Evaluation and Measurement: A Practitioner's Perspective'', ''Connections for Health'', and ''Health Information for Teachers: A College Course''. He was the recipient of the Mabel Lee Outstanding Young Professional Award for early career achievements awarded by the

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. He has received both the Recognition Award and the Leadership Award from the School Health Education and Services Section of the American Public Health Association. He is recipient of the Award for Research of the American School Health Association's Research Council and the

American Association for Health Education American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

named him its Scholar for 1999. Dr. McDermott received the William A. Howe Award from the American School Health Association for his career achievements, the highest award bestowed by that organization. He was a founding Fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior and has served as its President. Although retired from the University of South Florida in 2012, Dr. McDermott carried out teaching activities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Tampa, and the University of Maryland, before returning to Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2017, where he oversaw accreditation of the SIUC's Master of Public Health program and served as Chair of the Department of Public Health and Recreation Professions. He is now retired.

References

* Black, D. R. (2000). Inside The Academy: Profiling Dr. Robert J. McDermott. American Journal of Health Behavior, 24(1), 73-74

* Black, D.R., and Laflin, M.T. (2004). ViewPoint: Conversation with Robert J. McDermott, PhD, FASHA, FRIPH, FAAHB. American Journal of Health Behavior, 24(1), 87-96 {{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Robert J. American public health doctors University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Health Behavior Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Southern Illinois University alumni University of South Florida alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education alumni