Cullen has served the Evans School with distinction since she joined the faculty in 1995, including terms as associate dean and graduate program coordinator. She has published many scholarly works related to her research areas, which focus on environmental and human health policy, wildfire risk management and climate impacts. She also holds adjunct professor appointments in the School of Public Health and the College of the Environment.
“I would like to express my appreciation and my optimism about the year ahead. I am honored and humbled to have been selected to serve as interim dean of the Evans School,” she emphasized, “I look forward continuing Dean Archibald’s efforts to sustain the Evans School as one of the nation’s leading public affairs institutions.”
Cullen is the recipient of the Society for Risk Analysis Distinguished Educator Award, has twice received the Evans Student Organization Excellence in Instruction Award and received the 2016 Evans School Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Award. Among her numerous awards and recognitions for scholarship, Cullen was an NSF Faculty Fellow in the Advanced Study Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a visiting fellow at Boston’s Health Effects Institute and the recipient of the Society of Toxicology Award for a Publication Demonstrating Applied Risk Assessment. She is active in risk assessment and management efforts in the U.S. and internationally, including serving on the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and conducting wildfire risk management research with the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
“After 24 years, my passion for our great school is reinforced by my excitement to serve as interim dean in a critical period for scholarship and action in the public and nonprofit sectors,” she said. “The Evans School has a proud history of excellence in providing evidence-based solutions to societal challenges, and an inspiring future rising from a passionate call for justice, equity and inclusion in public policy and governance.”
Cullen received her bachelor’s in civil/environmental engineering from MIT and holds both a Master of Science in environmental health science, exposure assessment and engineering and a doctor of science in environmental health management from Harvard University School of Public Health, where she also previously served on the faculty.