Dr. Paul Halverson is Interim Director of Department of Health

Dr. Paul Halverson is Interim Director of Department of Health

Gov. Mike Huckabee has named Dr. Paul Halverson of Little Rock as the interim director of the state Department of Health. Halverson replaces Dr. Fay Boozman, who was killed in an accident on his Benton County farm on March 19.

Halverson, 46, joined the Dr. Fay Boozman College of Public Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock last June. He's a professor and the chairman of the Department of Health Policy and Management. Prior to moving to Arkansas, he served for almost seven years as a member of the senior scientific staff at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

At the CDC, Halverson was appointed to the Silvio Conte Senior Biomedical Research Service, a congressionally designated classification within the Department of Health and Human Services for the nation's top biomedical research scientists. Halverson was the director of the Division of Public Health Systems Development and Research for the CDC. He had responsibility for strengthening the effectiveness of public health systems throughout the United States.

"Dr. Halverson has a nationwide reputation in the area of public health," Huckabee said. "He has strong leadership abilities and is just the type of person we need leading the Health Department as we implement our Healthy Arkansas initiative. We're fortunate to have a man of his abilities in Arkansas as we seek to be on the cutting edge of public health policy."

While in Atlanta, Halverson led the development and implementation of the National Public Health Performance Standards Program, the deployment of the National Health Alert Network and the advancement of the National Public Health Leadership Institute. He also helped develop a number of leadership and management education programs.

Halverson was appointed by the World Health Organization as the director of the WHO Collaborating Center in Public Health Practice at the CDC. In that role, he provided support globally for the advancement of public health systems.

Prior to his appointment at the CDC, Halverson was a member of the faculty at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. He served in the Department of Health Policy and Administration. Halverson was the associate director of the doctoral program in public health leadership and the senior health policy adviser to the North Carolina state health director. For 14 years prior to going to work at the University of North Carolina, Halverson was a hospital administrator. He worked in Arizona, Minnesota and Michigan.

Halverson received his doctorate in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his master's degree in health services administration from Arizona State University. He has received numerous honors in the area of public health. He's married with two teenage daughters.

http://www.state.ar.us/governor/media/releases/press/05052005-1.html