As a public-health expert, Beth Moracco is uniquely equipped for finding common ground between stakeholders. During her 15-year career at the University, she has leveraged qualitative and quantitative data to address complex issues, such as equitable pay and violence against women.
Moracco, associate professor in the Department of Heath Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health and associate director of the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, is running for the chairperson of the faculty position.
The 2023 Faculty Election began on March 29 and will close on April 12.
For eight years, Moracco was the director of UNC’s Master of Public Health program — where she made curricular changes with her colleagues that received approvals from the Graduate School.
She said she has a “very, very in-depth knowledge” of what it takes to put together and vet program curricula, including the ability to engage with multiple stakeholders to see the future needs for programs.
“I have a good sense of how faculty governance works,” she said. “I believe in shared governance. I believe that faculty has a role in shared decision-making at the University.”
In 2019, Moracco received the Edward G. McGavran Award for Excellence in Teaching from Gillings for her career-long excellence, and in 2021, she was awarded the Edward Kidder Graham Faculty Service Award for her committed dedication to students.
Stephen Marshall, professor of epidemiology at Gillings and director of the Injury Prevention Research Center, has known Moracco since they were graduate students.
“That's clearly a really strong thread throughout her whole career — empowering communities so that they make good, collective decisions that are strong and respect the input of everyone,” he said.