October 5th, 2009
Wechsler to speak at Texas State

STAFF REPORT

Howell Wechsler of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will speak 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at Texas State University, in Room 209 of the Jowers Center on Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Since April, Wechsler has served as the director of the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he has done notable work on the prevention of childhood obesity. He supervises the management of the three surveillance systems of DASH, the youth risk behavior surveillance system, school health policies and programs study, and school health profiles. He also oversees programmatic activities, including funding of and technical assistance to state and local education agencies and national, non-governmental organizations.

Before joining the CDC, Wechsler served as project director of the Washington Heights-Inwood Healthy Heart Program in New York City. The community-based cardiovascular disease prevention program was affiliated with Columbia University, where Wechsler taught courses in health communication. Additionally, he directed a community-based health screening program serving the New York City metropolitan area and has worked as a health educator for the New York City Department of Health.

Wechsler entered public health service during his service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire. He earned his doctorate in Health Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a master’s in Public Health from Columbia.