NYU Wagner

Beth C. Weitzman, Professor of Health and Public Policy, joined the faculty of New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in 1987. She teaches classes in community health and in research methods, and has, in the past, served as both the Director of Doctoral Studies and the Director of the Health Policy and Management Program.

Dr. Weitzman's research focuses on urban policies affecting poor families and she has evaluated a range of program aimed at meeting the health, social service, housing, and educational needs of these families and their children. She brings to this work extensive experience in primary data collection and a strong interest in innovative research designs.

Since 1995, Dr. Weitzman has been directing the national evaluation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Urban Health Initiative, aimed at improving health and safety outcomes for children and youth in five of America’s most distressed cities. Previous research includes a NIDA-funded study examining the relationship of school absenteeism to survey-based estimates of adolescent risk behavior and a longitudinal study of homeless families funded by NIMH. In recent years, Dr. Weitzman’s work has been published in the Journal of Urban Health, the Journal of Adolescent Health, the American Journal of Evaluation, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, and the American Journal of Public Health. She holds a B.A. from Vassar College and an M.P.A. and Ph.D. from NYU.