SPEA Excellence
David McSwane, HSD, REHS, CFSP
Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs
In Dr. David McSwane's field of study, everyone is a potential victim. A highly regarded national expert in food and drinking water safety, Dr. McSwane's work is lost on no one, especially students earning SPEA degrees in environmental science and health.
"I've been in public health for 37 years, and I've never lost my interest in it," says Dr. McSwane, who worked for the Indiana State Department of Health and the Monroe County Health Department before beginning his teaching career at IU in 1975. "What is really exciting about the discipline is that it's never routine - there's always something different."
Hoping to convey some of that enthusiasm about public health to his students, Dr. McSwane emphasizes interactive learning in the classroom. Class discussions include plenty of real-world examples based on his own practical experience both as a former health department administrator and food safety consultant for some of the nation's leading grocery and restaurant chains. His gateway course, "Environment and People" was recently singled out as one of the top examples of best practices in a national study of environmental science courses by the Center for Educational Policy Research (CEPR) on behalf of the College Board.
In recent years, Dr. McSwane played an instrumental part in securing national accreditation for SPEA's Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree with the Environmental Science and Health major. Awarded in June 2006, the accreditation was granted by the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs and the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council. According to Dr. McSwane, SPEA's program is one of only about 30 such accredited programs in the country.
"Our students at IUPUI will stack up against any students - whether SPEA students on other campuses or environmental science and health graduates from other universities," Dr. McSwane says. "I think the students who persevere and complete our curriculum are considered to be some of the best out there."
In addition to ensuring excellence in the classroom, McSwane has authored two books of national prominence in the food safety industry. The first targets the supermarket and convenience story industry, offering information to train managers. The second, a companion book, deals with the same topics, but is geared to restaurants and institutions. Both are widely used in the industry.