David A. Birch PhD, MCHES® » Board of Directors

Biographical Info

David A. Birch is a professor in the Department of Health Science, The University of Alabama.  He served as department chair from 2011-2018.  From 2001-2008 he served as professor and chair of the Department of Health Education and Recreation, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC).  He was also a faculty member at Indiana University and Penn State University.  Dr. Birch is a past-president of the American Association for Health Education (AAHE) and the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE).  He has served on the Board of Directors of AAHE, the American School Health Association (ASHA), the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC), and the Board of Trustees of the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Advancement for Health Education.   He is a member and former chair of the editorial board of the Journal of School Health, member of the editorial board of Health Education and Behavior and a former member of the editorial boards of Pedagogy in Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and the American Journal of Health Studies.  Dr. Birch is a Charter Fellow of AAHE and an ASHA Fellow.  He has received the highest awards from three organizations; the William A. Howe Award from ASHA (2019), the SOPHE Distinguished Fellow Award (2018), and the Eta Sigma Gamma Honor Award (2015). Dr. Birch has also received the SOPHE Presidential Citation (2012), ASHA Outstanding Researcher Award (2010), AAHE Professional Service Award (2008), AAHE Presidential Citation (2008, 2012, 2013) and ASHA Distinguished Service Award (1996).  He was the 2008 Ann E. Nolte Scholar in Health Education, Illinois State University and Robert D. Russell Scholar, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2000).  While at Indiana University, Dr. Birch received the Trustee’s Teaching Award and the Teaching Excellence Recognition Award.  His research interests include professional preparation, professional leadership, the education-health reciprocal relationship and the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model.