Michael J. Klag

Dr. Michael J. Klag is an internationally known internist and epidemiologist who served as Dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health from September 2005 to September 2017. He has had a profound effect on American medicine and public health through his research accomplishments, administrative leadership and mentorship. His scientific contributions have been in the prevention and epidemiology of kidney disease, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. He directed the Precursors Study, a prospective longitudinal study of Hopkins medical students started in 1946 that has produced seminal results of the impact of risk factors in youth on cardiovascular disease later in life. As Dean, he guided the Bloomberg School to unprecedented growth in global collaborations and strategic alliances, student enrollment, online learning, faculty recruitment, philanthropic giving, research centers, alumni engagement and School facilities. Throughout his deanship, the School maintained its ranking as the No. 1 school of public health in the U.S. News & World Report assessment. Prior to his tenure at the Bloomberg School, he was Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine, interim chair of the Department of Medicine and the first Vice Dean for Clinical Investigation at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he created a culture of compliance and rebuilt the infrastructure for oversight of human subject research. Dr. Klag earned a B.S. degree magna cum laude in Biology from Juniata College and a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his internship, residency and was Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. He was a Fellow in the Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and earned his MPH degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Klag is the author of over 200 publications and received numerous awards including an honorary doctorate from Juniata College and the James D. Bruce Memorial Award for Distinguished Contributions in Preventive Medicine from the American College of Physicians. He chaired the NIH Advisory Board on Clinical Research and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Dr. Klag is a member of the Board of Trustees of The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.