Marietta Orlowski named interim chair of Department of Population and Public Health Sciences

Marietta Orlowski

Marietta Orlowski, Ph.D., has been named interim chair of the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, effective Feb. 1. She fills the role following James Ebert, M.D., who is retiring.

Orlowski’s research involves health behavior measurement and risk reduction in children and adolescents. She has collaborated with local school districts on federally funded projects to improve school-based nutrition, and has presented research on tobacco prevention to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also has been recognized for distinguished service in health education by the Ohio Public Health Association.

Orlowski completed her doctorate in health promotion and education, with a specialty in health care administration, at The Ohio State University. She has an M.A. from Morehead State University and a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati.

Prior to coming to Wright State, Orlowski was director of health education for Middletown Regional Hospital and implemented community-based risk reduction programs throughout Southwest Ohio. Orlowski is a member of the American Public Health Association and the Society for Public Health Education and serves as a board member of the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.

Ebert served as the Oscar Boonshoft Chair in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences and was associate professor of population and public health sciences and pediatrics. He has served as the medical director of the lipid clinic at Dayton Children’s Hospital. Ebert was the program director for the Master of Public Health Program from 2008 through 2015 before becoming department chair. He had served on the clinical faculty of the Boonshoft School of Medicine for 16 years before becoming a full-time faculty member in 2004.

Ebert is a retired colonel in the United States Air Force. While in the Air Force, Ebert served as chief of medical staff and commander of medical operations at Wright-Patterson Medical Center. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a past president of its Uniformed Services Chapter. As an emeritus member of the Boonshoft School of Medicine faculty, Ebert will continue to chair the governing board of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, serve on the board of directors for the National Board of Public Health Examiners and remain an active accreditation site visitor for the Council on Education in Public Health.