Ian Lapp

Academic Division: History & SocietyIan Lapp is Dean of the Undergraduate School at Babson College. Dr. Lapp is an internationally recognized entrepreneurial leader in education, known for transforming curriculum, pedagogy, and the overall student experience at the undergraduate and graduate level. He joined Babson College in April 2016. Prior to his arrival at Babson, he was an academic leader and faculty member at Harvard University for five years and previously served at Columbia University for 10 years. Dr. Lapp was recruited to Harvard from Columbia to lead the school of public health’s multi-year educational strategic planning process known as the “Roadmap to 2013,” a school-wide effort to mark its centennial in fall 2013, which included the introduction of four new or redesigned degrees. Dr. Lapp has also led the school of public health’s innovation efforts in technology and interactive learning including HarvardX, e-learning, and simulations. At the University level, he served as the inaugural co-chair of Harvard’s Teaching and Learning Consortium. At the national level, he has chaired a number of major committees for the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) and was a member of the landmark, Framing the Future Taskforce. Dr. Lapp is the president of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), which oversees institutional accreditation in public health, and is a member of the board of directors for the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE), which oversees the certification process of professionals in public health. In the international arena, he has worked extensively with public health programs in Africa, Asia, and Europe including playing a key role in the launch of the James P. Grant School of Public Health in Bangladesh. Dr. Lapp previously served as associate dean for academic affairs and education at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where he capped off a 10 year career by co-leading the redesign of the school’s MPH degree, the nation’s largest professional master’s degree program in public health. During his tenure at Columbia, he played a collaborative leadership role in the redesign of dozens of courses, including the core courses, development of a number of degree concentrations including global health, launching of an undergraduate program in public health, designing of e-learning projects and high-tech classrooms, and development of an extensive faculty development program in teaching. Dr. Lapp received a BS degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned both a MA and PhD in sociology at the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He also earned a MA in television, radio, and film at the Syracuse University Newhouse School of Communications.

Academic Degrees

• Ph D, Syracuse University
• MA, Syracuse University
• MA, Syracuse University
• BS, University of Wisconsin - Madison

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