Mad About Public Health is a series that looks at the health of populations from varying creative and innovative perspectives.

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Jay E. Maddock, PhD is the former Dean of the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University. He is internationally recognized for his research in social ecological approaches to increasing physical activity. He has served as principal investigator on over $18 million in extramural funding and authored over 100 scientific articles. [Full Bio]

Read all columns in this series:

• Why Some Doctors Are Prescribing a Day in the Park or a Walk on the Beach for Good Health
• Is it Time to Host an Unconference?
• Making the Most of Scientific Conferences

Check out Dr. Maddock’s Previous Series, The Dean’s Perspective:

• Should We Be Teaching a Public Health Diet?
• Can Public Health and Planetary Health Coexist?
• Genius, Creativity, and Healthy Aging
• Summer Reading List
• Life Lessons from the Ambassador to Roberto
• Creating a Writing Habit
• Professional Networking in the Digital Age
• Using Improv to Improve Public Health
• Sugar Free January and the Modeling of Health Behaviors
• Zen and the Art of Tenure and Promotion
• Getting Back to Nature
• How Can Schools of Public Health Provide Surge Capacity?
• Change
• Gemutlichkeit
• Skills for Public Health Graduates
• New Measures of Academic Impact
• Health in the South
• The Value of a Global Experience
• Make a Public Health Resolution
• Creating a National Dialogue Around Public Health Issues
• The Executive-in-Residence: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
• Can Public Health Be the New Psychology?