Michael Greenberg: Master Synthesizer of Risk, Public Health, and Public Policy
by Joanna Burger & Karen W. Lowrie
Michael Greenberg is an extraordinary researcher, teacher, and pioneer who has combined his broad knowledge and expertise in environmental protection, public health, mathematics, environmental planning, and risk evaluations to advance environmental and public health policy, and the field of risk analysis. His research has informed policies and programs at state and federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP). Greenberg is well known to the international risk community as a former Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the journal Risk Analysis and Associate Editor for environmental health for the American Journal of Public Health. He is a Fellow in the International Society of Risk Analysis and has received their Distinguished Career Achievement Award (2003). Early in his career, he was given a Special Award of Merit from the U.S. EPA for education and research (1977). This was an indication of what was to come.
Greenberg retired in 2022 after a more than 50-year career at Rutgers University, where he was a Distinguished Professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Policy. He continues writing, consulting, and thinking about emerging global health and well-being issues of our day. He was instrumental in the formation of the Rutgers School of Public Health, and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Policy. He served as the Associate Dean of the Faculty at the Bloustein School (2000–2017) and as Interim Dean in 2017 and 2018. Greenberg has authored 35 books, 395 articles and book chapters, and now in his 80s, continues to write articles on risk, the implications of current public policy, and potential changes in public health policy. His teaching, one of his favorite aspects of his work, reflected the breadth of his expertise and enthusiasm. He has taught Advanced Multivariate Statistics, Protecting Community Health, Planning, Policy and Health, Environmental Planning and Management, Population Health & Urbanization, and Hazard Mitigation Planning, among others.
One theme that ran consistently throughout our interview was Mike’s belief in the importance of collaboration with wide range of people, disciplines, and government policy-makers. His strong interdisciplinary bent, conceptualization of complex issues, and mathematical abilities helped him identify and quantify environmental injustices. He has worked in many domains to foster community involvement and address inequity and foster environmental justice, always seeking to find solutions. He has often challenged the status quo and championed the underdog—qualities he learned at a very early age.