Craig H. Blakely, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the Dean of Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health.   Dr. Blakely’s research interests have been varied, but have always focused on disenfranchised or under-served groups including pregnant women (particularly those without access to health care), juvenile delinquents, substance abusers, and more recently, rural populations.  He has successfully championed legislative change affecting under-served populations.  Dr. Blakely has served as principle investigator in grants totaling more than $13 million.  He has published numerous works that include: A Pound of Prevention: The Case for Universal Maternity Care in the U.S. published by the American Public Health Association and served as an early bible for those advocating universal access to maternity care in the United States in the 1990s.

Blakely’s research on maternal and child health includes several major statewide studies of immunization and several crosscutting subject areas including substance abuse prevention, maternal and child health, and community-based change.  He has evaluated major initiatives such as a community-based substance abuse prevention programs servicing  a seven-county region, a school-based prevention program targeting at-risk youth, an early state-supported maternal and child health care program providing services to non-U.S. citizens, Medicaid managed care rollouts, and major workers’ compensation reforms in Texas.  He has served on numerous review panels, regularly reviews papers for a number of journals and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Primary Prevention.

Dr. Blakely obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois, his Master of Arts degree from Southern Illinois University, his Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University, and a Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston