Biography - Christopher G. Atchison
Christopher G. Atchison is the Director of the State Hygienic Laboratory, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Clinical Professor in Health Management and Policy at the University of Iowa, College of Public Health. Mr. Atchison is also the principle investigator of the CDC funded Upper Midwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center. He is also an investigator in the area of Community Engagement for the University of Iowa’s Clinical Translation Science Award (CTSA).
Mr. Atchison serves on a number of state boards including the Prevention of Disabilities Policy Council, the Medical Home Advisory Council and as Chair of the Safety Net Advisory Council. He is the immediate past chair of the Des Moines based Child and Family Policy Center and is Co-chair of Iowa’s Partnership for Better Health.
Prior to joining the University in 1999, Mr. Atchison served for eight years as Director of the Iowa Department of Public Health. During his tenure, Mr. Atchison was elected the first elected chair of the Iowa Child Health Insurance Program (Hawk-I) Board. He also chaired the Iowa Health Data Commission and the Governor’s Task Force on Regulatory Reform. He was vice-chair of Healthy Iowans 2000 and 2010, the Long Term Care Coordinating Council and was a member of the Governor’s Health Care Reform Task Force and the Iowa Empowerment Board.
At the national level, Mr. Atchison served as President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) during the years 1994 and 1995 and was chair of the Joint Council of Official Health Agencies. In 1998 he received ASTHO's Arthur T. McCormack Award for his contributions to public health practice. He has been on the board of the Public Health Foundation and was a member of the New York Academy of Medicine's Committee on Medicine and Public Health. He is on the Steering Committee for the National Academy of State Health Policy.
Mr. Atchison has been married to Mary Jo Atchison for 36 years. They have two children, Stacy Atchison Reed and Michael Atchison. They have one grandchild, Joanna Madison (Annie) Reed.