Melissa L. Gilliam is president of Boston University. An award- winning interdisciplinary researcher in medicine, public health, and the humanities, Dr. Gilliam is also a veteran administrator, educator, scholar, and physician.
Dr. Gilliam previously served as the executive vice president and provost of The Ohio State University. As its chief academic officer and chief operating officer, she led an academic enterprise that included 15 colleges, more than 7,500 faculty members, and over 67,000 students.
Prior to joining Ohio State, Dr. Gilliam spent most of her career at the University of Chicago, where she was a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics, the Ellen H. Block Distinguished Service Professor of Health Justice, and vice provost.
Dr. Gilliam’s scholarship focuses on developing interventions to promote adolescent health and well-being. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and others. Dr. Gilliam is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and serves on the Board of Governors of Argonne National Laboratories and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Dr. Gilliam earned her Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Yale University, a Master of Arts in philosophy and politics from the University of Oxford, a Doctor of Medicine from Harvard University, and a Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois Chicago. She completed an internship in general surgery at the University of Chicago and her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University.