Jonathan Fielding

For the English cricketer, see Jonathan Fielding (cricketer).

Jonathan Fielding
Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
In office 4 April 2008 – 2014
Succeeded by	Barbara Ferrer
Health Officer for Los Angeles County
Succeeded by	Jeffrey Gunzenhauser
Personal details
Born	1942 (1942) (age 82)
Spouse	Karin Fielding
Alma mater	Williams College Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Harvard Medical School Harvard School of Public Health Wharton School of Business
Occupation	Physician, professor, and philanthropist

Jonathan Evan Fielding M.D., M.P.H., M.A., M.B.A. (born 1942) is the former director and health officer of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. He is a Distinguished Professor at UCLA in the Fielding School of Public Health and the Geffen School of Medicine. He is the founder and co-director of the School of Public Health's Center for Health Advancement, which has expertise in forecasting and modeling future health and analyzing the health and financial impact of evidence-based policies and programs in non-health sectors such as education, transportation, and natural resources.

As director of one of the largest health departments in the United States, Fielding oversaw public health activities, including those for environmental health, disease control, health education, health assessment, and chronic diseases. During his more than 16-year tenure, Fielding led efforts to develop plans to deal with emergencies related to bioterrorism, pandemic flu, and other emerging diseases and conditions. He also called attention to the underlying determinants of health, including the physical and social environments in which people live. He was responsible for implementing the Los Angeles County restaurant “A B C” grading system which has been widely emulated throughout the U.S. Fielding also served as commissioner and vice-chair of the First 5 Los Angeles Los Angeles Commission, whose mission is to improve health and development of children 5 years of age and under, granting over $100 million annually to improve health and development of children 5 years of age and under. Fielding has been a founding member of a number of national task forces that assess best evidence and make recommendations to improve the health of the public. These include the U.S. Clinical Preventive Services Task Force and the U.S. Community Preventive Services Task Force, which he has chaired for over a decade. Fielding has published on a wide range of public health as well as preventive medicine issues. He has authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles, chapters and editorials. He has served as associate editor and then editor of the Annual Review of Public Health over a 35-year period. Fielding is a former board member and former chair of the national Truth Initiative (formerly the American Legacy Foundation), which oversees $1 billion from the (year) tobacco settlement to end youth use of combustible cigarettes and other nicotine delivery devices, and also former chair of the Partnership for Prevention. He is an elected member of the National Academy Medicine and the former president of the American College of Preventive Medicine.

In 2006, Fielding received the American Public Health Association (APHA)’s oldest and most prestigious award, the Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Public Health. In 2008, he was appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt to chair the Secretary's Advisory Committee on the 2020 Health Objectives for the Nation, and in 2016 appointed a Co-Chair emeritus for the Advisory Committee for the 2030 national Health Objectives. He was also appointed to the California Department of Public Health Advisory Committee. In April 2009 Fielding received the UCLA Medal, the university's highest honor, for his work as an innovator, leader and public health visionary. In January 2011 he was appointed by President Barack Obama to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health, becoming one of the 13 founding members of the group.[4] In 2012 he received the Fries Prize for pioneering work in identifying and applying effective worksite and public prevention programs and policies that have improved health for million of Americans. The prize was given by the James F. and Sarah T. Fries Foundation. He was also named an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Public Health Education for his visionary leadership and lifetime of contributions to public health. He is a founding member of Shatterproof, the national organization working to end addiction, and an advisor to Working Nation and Sound Body Sound Mind, improving youth fitness through enhanced school programs. In 2016 he started writing a monthly column for US News and World Report on current topics in public health.

In 2014 Fielding and his wife Karin gave a gift to UCLA to endow the Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health. They also have provided a lead gift to support the construction of the Fielding Wing of American Folk Art at the Huntington Library, Botanical Gardens and Art Collection in San Marino California, and are donating a substantial portion of their American folk art collection to that institution.

Previous work

Fielding's other previous appointments include: Director, Division of Peer Review, Bureau of Quality Assurance, Health Services Administration, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Commissioner of Public Health, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Co-Director, Center for Health Enhancement, Education and Research, University of California, Los Angeles. He has also served as a vice president of Johnson & Johnson.

Academic appointments

He is currently (2019) a Professor-in-Residence of Health Services and Pediatrics in the Schools of Public Health and Medicine University of California, Los Angeles. On February 15, 2012, the school received a $50 million gift, the largest single donation the school received since its creation in 1962. The school bears a new name: the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health.

Education

In 1964, Fielding received a B.A. in French from Williams College. He attended Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard University, School of Medicine in 1969 and two years later graduated from Harvard School of Public Health. While attending medical school, he conducted his residencies at the Boston Children's Hospital and Georgetown University Medical Center. In 1977, he received an MBA from Wharton School of Business.

Awards and honors

• Porter Prize, for National Impact on Improving the Health of Americans, 1994
• Member, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, 1995–present
• Investing in Information Award by the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, Inc., 1997
• Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Service to the American College of Preventive Medicine, 2000
• Milton and Ruth Roemer Prize, for Creative Local Public Health Work from American Health Association 2003
• Outstanding Alumnus Award from Harvard School of Public Health, 2006
• Sedgwick Medal from American Public Health Association 2006
• Beverlee A. Myers Award for Excellence in Public Health 2007
• Honorary Fellow Award, Society for Public Health Education, 2012
• Fries Prize for Improving Health from The James F. and Sarah T. Fries Foundation, 2012
• Winston Crouch Award for Innovation in Government from The American Society for Public Administration, 2009
• The Lester Breslow Distinguished Lectureship from University of California Los Angeles, 2009
• UCLA Medal from University of California Los Angeles, 2009
• American Journal of Public Health Paper of the Year – Health Disparities and Health Equity: The Issues Is Justice, 2012
• Visionary Award from Venice Family Clinic Silver Circle Gala, 2014
• Earl Warren Award for Outstanding Public Services from the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA), 2014
• Kellogg Award from Williams College, 2014
• Bicentennial Medal from Williams College, 2015

Selected presentations

Using Evidence to Improve Public Health Infrastructure. (January 7, 2004)

Public Health Agencies—Roles, Responsibilities and Challenges Testimony of Jonathan E. Fielding M.D. M.P.H. Director of Public Health and Health Officer Department of Health Services, Los Angeles County to the Little Hoover Commission June 27, 2002, Sacramento, California

Beyond Bioterrorism: Building Public Health in the 21st century. September 26, 2002.

Recent publications

• Cole, B.L., Shimkhada, R., Morgenstern, H., Kominski, G., Fielding, J.E., Wu, S., “Projected Health Impact of the Los Angeles City Living Wage Ordinance” JECH, 59:645-650. (2005).
• Anderson, L.M., Brownson, R.C., Fullilove, M.T., Teutsch, St.M., Novick, L.F., Fielding, J.E., Land, G.H. “Evidence-Based Public Health Policy and Practice: Promise and Limits” Am Journal of Prev Med, 28 (5S) (2005).
• Georgenson, M., Thorpe, L.E., Merlino, M., Frieden, T.R., Fielding, J.E., The Big Cities Health Coalition, “Shortchanged? An Assessment of Chronic Disease Programming in Major US City Health Departments” J Urban Health. June;82 (2):233-4 (2005).
• Simon, P.A., Leslie, P., Run G. Jion, G.Z., Rporter, R. Aguirre, A., Fielding, J.E., “Impact of Restaurant Hygiene Grade Cards on Foodborne-Disease Hospitalizations in Los Angeles County” JEnviron Health, Mar;67 (7):32-6, 56; quiz 59060, (2005).
• Cole, B.L., Shimkhada, R., Fielding, J.E., Kominski, G., Morgenstern, H., “Methodologies for Realizing the Potential of Health Impact Assessment” Am J of Prev Med, May;28 (4):382-9, (2005).
• Cole, B.L., Shimkhada, R., Morgenstern, H., Kominski, G., Fielding, J.E., Wu, S., “Projected Health Impact of the Los Angeles City Living Wage Ordinance” JEpidemiol Community Health, 59:645-650 (2005).
• Eisenman, D.P., Wold, C., Fielding, J.E., Long, A., Setodji, C., Hickey, S., Gelberg, L., “Differences in Individual-Level Terrorism Preparedness in Los Angeles County” Am J Prev Med, (2005).
• Dannenberg, A.L., Bhatia, R., Cole, B.L., Dora, C., Fielding, J.E., Kraft, K., McClymonth-Peace, D., Mindell, J., Onyekere, C., Roberts, J.A., Ross, C.L., Rutt, C.D., Scott-Samuel, A., Tilson. H.H., “Growing the Field of Health Impact Assessment in the United States: An Agenda for Research and Practice” AM J. PH, Vol. 96, No. 2 (2006).
• Simon, P.A., Fielding, J.E., “Public Health and Business: A Partnership That Makes Cents” Health Affairs 25, no.4, 1029-1039 (2006).
• Fielding, J.E., Briss, Peter A., “Promoting Evidence-Based Public Health Policy: Can We Have Better Evidence And More Action?” Health Affairs 25, No.4, 969-978 (2006).
• Cole, B.L., Shimkhada, R., Fielding, J.E., Kominski, G., Morgenstern, H., “Health Impact Assessment: Current Practice and Future Potential to Increase Awareness of Population Health Impacts of Policy Decisions” (accepted – AM J of Prev Med).
• Cole, B.L., Shimkhada, R., Morgegenstern, H., Kominski, G., Fielding, J.E., Wu, S., “An Examination of the Potential Health Consequences of Expanded Funding for After-School Programs – The Role of Research Versus Rhetoric” (in Review – J of Policy analysis and Management).
• Yancey, A., Lewis, L., Sloane, D., Diamant, A., McCarthy, W., Guinyard, J.J., Fielding, J.E., “Walking the Talk: Process Evaluation of a Local Health Department-Community Collaboration Incorporate Physical Activity Into Organizational Practice” (in press – PubMed).
• Ockene, J.K., Edgerton, E.A., Teutsch, S.M., Marion, L.N., Miller, T., Genevro, J.L., Loveland-Cherry, C.J., Fielding, J.E., Briss, P.A., “Integrating Evidence-Based Clinical and Community Strategies to Improve Health” (in press – AJPM).

External links

• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
• Web Presentation on Worksite Health Promotion
• Interview about pandemic flu with Dr. Fielding on Living on Earth 2005 "Cities Get Ready"