Rate My Professor Jon Somet

Jonathan M. Samet, MD, MS, is a pulmonary physician and epidemiologist serving as Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental and Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver. He received an A.B. in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard College in 1966, an M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1970, and an M.S. in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1977. Samet's career began at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, where he progressed from assistant professor of medicine in 1978 to professor of family, community, and emergency medicine and chief of the pulmonary division from 1986 to 1994. He joined the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 1994 as professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology until 2008, during which he also directed the Institute for Global Tobacco Control from 1998 to 2008. From 2008 to 2017, he held the Flora L. Thornton Chair in Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and directed the USC Institute for Global Health.

In 2017, Samet became dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, serving until 2023 and leading the school through the COVID-19 pandemic, elevating its national ranking to the top 20 among graduate schools of public health, and increasing annual research funding to over $31 million. His research specializes in the health risks of inhaled pollutants, including particulate matter and ozone in outdoor air, secondhand smoke, radon, and active smoking, with key contributions to understanding cancer and respiratory diseases. Notable publications include 'Fine particulate air pollution and mortality in 20 U.S. cities, 1987–1994' in the New England Journal of Medicine (2000) and senior scientific editor for the 50th Anniversary Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health (2014). He has served as editor and author for Surgeon General's Reports since 1984, chaired the U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, and held numerous National Research Council and Institute of Medicine committee roles. Awards include Surgeon General’s Medallions (1990, 2006), election to the National Academy of Medicine (1997), and the David M. Rall Medal (2015).