Research Program: Prevention & Etiology
Dean, School of Public Health
Assistant Vice President for Public Health
Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health

sphdean@umn.edu
612-625-1179 — office
Preferred method of contact: e-mail

Dr. Finnegan was named dean of the School of Public Health in November 2005. He has more than 25 years' experience in public health research, specializing in community campaigns aimed at prevention and the role of communication media in health behavior and social change. He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in mass communication that he earned from the University of Minnesota in 1978 and 1985, respectively, and had a brief career as a journalist. In 1986, he joined the faculty of the School of Public Health, where he developed a research and teaching program focusing on community studies of health promotion efforts in cancer prevention, heart disease, and youth health.

Research Interests

Media communication and public health; community campaigns; the "Knowledge Gap" and health outcomes; digital information technology and its impact on public health.

Selected Publications

Slater JS, Finnegan JR, Madigan S (2005). Incorporation of a successful community-based mammography intervention: Dissemination beyond a community trial. Health Psychology 24:5, 463-69.

Viswanath K, Whitney R, Finnegan JR (2006). Social capital and health: civic engagement, community size, and recall of health messages. AJPH Aug;96(8):1456-61. Epub 2006 Jun 29.

Finnegan JR (2007). Secular Social Change. In The International Encyclopedia of Communication, Wolfgang Donsbach (ed), New York: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.

Finnegan, J.R. and Viswanath, K. (2008, in press). Communication theory and health behavior change: the media studies framework. In K. Glantz, et al (eds.) Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research and Practice, 4ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.