People

Lori DiPrete BrownDistinguished Teaching Faculty, Civil Society & Community Studies | Director of Global Health and Human Ecologyshe/her/hers

I work at the interface of public health and human ecology to advance quality of life and environmental sustainability worldwide. My community-engaged teaching, outreach, and scholarship focus on the health and well-being of women and children around the world.

I lead Global Health and Human Ecology at the School of Human Ecology and serve as the director of the campus-wide 4W Women and Wellbeing Initiative, which has catalyzed a range of innovative programs that address gender-based inequality and injustice. I am also a co-chair for UW’s UniverCity Alliance, where we collaborate to address complex challenges in urban-centered systems within the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

As an associate director for the UW Global Health Institute from 2010-2022, I led the design and implementation of global health education programs for both health science students and undergraduates. I am the lead author and editor of Foundations for Global Health Practice (Wiley 2018), a text that articulates a local to global vision of health that goes beyond healthcare systems, to include topics such as human rights, global mental health, water and sanitation, food systems, climate change and urban health.

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of collaborating with international leaders to strengthen health and social service programs. In Latin America I have lived or worked in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, and Mexico. In Africa I led capacity-building exchanges in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Malawi, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Senegal. I also carried out QI training in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Pakistan. From 2011-2016 I directed UW–Madison’s Quality Improvement Leadership Institute, which engaged more than 100 leaders from 24 countries. Many of these leaders have continued collaborations throughout UW–Madison. I enjoy connecting colleagues and students with places that have been part of my life.

I have served in the Peace Corps (Honduras) and hold degrees from Yale College, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Harvard Divinity School.

Selected Publications

DiPrete Brown, L. (2022). SDG 360 Thinking: Emergent Strategies for Advancing Sustainable Development in Local Government. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics. Oxford University Press, USA.

DiPrete Brown, L., Atapattu, S., Stull, V., Calderón, C. I., Huambachano, M. E., Houénou, M. J., Snider, A., & Monzón, A. (2020). From a Three-Legged Stool to a Three-Dimensional World: Integrating Rights, Gender and Indigenous Knowledge into Sustainability Practice and Law. Special Issue: International Sustainable Development Law, Sustainability, 12(22), 9521. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229521

DiPrete Brown, L., Luter, G., & Sumi, G. (2020). Leadership in the Age of COVID, Local Leaders Share Lessons and Challenges. The Municipality, Wisconsin League of Municipalities, 18-20.

DiPrete Brown, L., & Dahlquist, O. (2019). Feminist Leadership and the 4W Initiative: Reflections and Implications for Transformative Praxis in Higher Education. The Time is Now: Feminist Leadership in a New Era. UNESCO Chair on Gender, Wellbeing and a Culture of Peace. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/e-book-time-now-feminist-leadership-new-era-global-network-unesco-chairs-gender-ge-chairs

Friedson-Ridenour, S., Dutcher, T., Calderon, C., DiPrete Brown, L., & Olsen, C. (2019). Gender Analysis for One Health: Theoretical Perspectives and Recommendations for Practice. EcoHealth, 16, 306-316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-019-01410-w

For a full list of publications, see Brown’s CV.

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Department

  • Civil Society & Community Studies

Affiliations

Education

  • MS, Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health
  • MTS, Religion, Gender and Social Change, Harvard Divinity School
  • BA, Philosophy and Psychology, Yale College

Contact

Office: 4285K Nancy Nicholas Hall

Phone: 608-263-5459

Email: dipretebrown@wisc.edu

Websites:

Social media: