David Wegman

David H. Wegman is dean of the School of Health and Environment at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, a position he assumed after 16 years as professor and founding chair of the Department of Work Environment.  He also serves as adjunct professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

He received his BA from Swarthmore College, and his M.D. and M.S. from Harvard University and is board certified in Preventive Medicine (Occupational Medicine).  Previously he served as director of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Health at the UCLA School of Public Health and on the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Wegman has focused his research on epidemiologic studies of occupational respiratory disease, musculoskeletal disorders and cancer and has published more than 200 articles in the scientific literature.  He has also written on public health and policy issues concerning hazard and health surveillance.  His recent work has focused on the examination of health and safety risks among construction workers involved in the building of the Third Harbor Tunnel and the underground Central Artery in Boston.  

Dr. Wegman is a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, he serves as treasurer of the International Epidemiological Association, as a member of the Science Board and Joint Policy Committee for the American Public Health Association and recently served as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Commission on Occupational Health and past chair of its Scientific Committee on Epidemiology in Occupational Health. 

He served as chair of the National Research Council - Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Health and Safety Needs of Older Workers and the Committee on the Health and Safety Consequences of Child Labor

Dr. Wegman has also served on the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors and the EPA Scientific Advisory Board.  He serves as chair of the Epidemiology Review Board for DuPont Corp., and was past chair of the Occupational Health Advisory Board for the United Auto Workers and the General Motors Corp.

Dr. Wegman is co-editor with Dr. Barry Levy of one of the standard textbooks in the field of occupational health, Occupational Health: Recognition and Prevention of Work-Related Disease, the fifth edition of which was published by Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins in 2005.   

He received the Alfred L. Frechette Award from the Massachusetts Public Health Association, the Harriet L. Hardy Award from the New England College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the Alice Hamilton Award from the American Public Health Association’s Occupational Health and Safety Section and was named as a Fullbright Scholar in 1998 for studies in Sweden on aging and work.