Gary Kreps

Gary Kreps
Born	(1952-08-17) August 17, 1952 (age 72) Queens, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	East Meadow High School
Alma mater	City College of San Francisco University of Colorado (BA)(MA)
Occupations	health and risk communication scholar professor author
Years active	1978–present

Gary L. Kreps is an American health and risk communication scholar. He is a Distinguished University Professor of communication at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, United States, where he directs the Center for Health and Risk Communication.^[1] Kreps is one of the founding scholars of the field of health communication, having published several of the earliest seminal books and articles on the topic, worked to establish the Health Communication Divisions at both the International Communication Association (ICA) and the National Communication Association (NCA), helped to found the Society for Health Communication, and spurred the introduction of major health communication research programs, courses and curricula around the globe.

At George Mason University, Kreps served as Chair of the Department of Communication from 2004 to 2013. He, spearheaded introduction of the department's leading international doctoral program in Health, Risk, and Strategic Communication. He held the Eileen and Steve Mandell Endowed Chair in Health Communication from 2004 to 2010, and was appointed as University Distinguished Professor in 2010. Prior to joining the faculty at George Mason University, he served as Founding Chief of the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he introduced important national health communication research programs. He was the Founding Dean of the School of Communication at Hofstra University, Executive Director of the Greenspun School of Communication at UNLV, and served as a professor at Northern Illinois University, Rutgers University, Indiana University, Indianapolis, and Purdue University Northwest universities.

His research, published in more than 580 frequently cited scholarly articles and books, examines the information needs of vulnerable populations facing serious health challenges to guide design and implementation of evidence-based health promotion policies, technologies, and practices. He has participated in externally funded research projects valued at more than $60 million and helped initiate and direct large intramural and extramural research programs at NCI, including HINTS (the Health Information National Trends Survey) the CECCRS (Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research) program project grant, and the SBIR program in Multimedia Technology and Health Communication in Cancer Control. He initiated and coordinates the INSIGHTS (International Studies to Investigate Global Health Information Trends) research consortium that collects population-level data about health information trends in more than 20 countries across five continents to inform evidence-based health communication and education efforts. He co-directs (with Paula Kim) GALA (the Global Advocacy Leadership Academy) non-profit organization that supports the development of needed health advocacy programs around the globe. He advises major health promotion agencies, health care delivery systems, and health service organizations about research and policy.

Kreps has received many distinguished awards and honors for his work. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior in 2010^[2] and as a Fellow of the ICA in 2019. He was elected as an NCA Distinguished Scholar in 2019. He received the Research Laureate Award from the American Academy of Health Behavior in 2015. Kreps has also received the NCA Dale Brashers Mentorship Award, the Gary Gumpert Urban Communication Research Award, the Endeavour Executive Fellowship from the Australian Department of Education, the FIRST Scholar Award from the University of Colorado, the Distinguished Communicator Award from the Virginia Academy of Communication Arts & Sciences, the NCA Distinguished Administrator Award, the ECA Health Communication Centennial Scholar Award, the Pfizer Professorship in Clear Health Communication, the Lewis Donahue Outstanding Health Communication Scholar Award from the University of Kentucky, the Future of Health Technology Award, the  Distinguished Achievement Award in Consumer Health Informatics and Online Health, the NCA/ICA Outstanding Health Communication Scholar Award, and the NCA Gerald M. Phillips Distinguished Applied Communication Scholar Award.