Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education

Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH, CSE

Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH, CSE: Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education

Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH, CSE is a sex and relationship researcher and educator. She is affiliate faculty at the Kinsey Institute with a national and international reputation as a sexual scientist and educator. Her research program centers around sexual well-being, specifically the maintenance of sexual and relationship satisfaction and sexual desire in long-term relationships, sexual function and dysfunction, sexual trauma, and sexual desire discrepancy.

Joycelyn Elders

History of the Chair

In 2014, former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, MD, teamed up with the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (then the Program in Human Sexuality) at the University of Minnesota Medical School to advance comprehensive science-based sexual health education by creating the Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education with the goal of changing the direction of sexual health in the US and around the world.

By establishing the Elders Chair, the Institute is working to create comprehensive life-long sexual education curricula, to increase the number of health care providers trained in sexual health care, and to expand scientific research in sexuality education. The Institute has established a fully online Master of Professional Studies in Sexual Health at the University of Minnesota, open to qualified graduates from any country.

Sexual health education is about more than preventing disease and pregnancy, and includes promoting sexual health throughout every stage of human life, from adolescence through adulthood and beyond. The Institute has proven successes in educating medical professionals, conducting sexual behavior research, and advocating for science-based public policy. Through the Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education, we continue to build on our strengths to advance sexual health education.

Dr. Michael Ross

Dr. Michael Ross: Inaugural Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education

Michael Ross, MD, PhD, MPH, MHPEd, MSt, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (ISGH) and was the Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education from 2014-2020. He holds 11 degrees, including a MedDr, a PhD in cross-cultural health psychology, and degrees in criminology and health education. Ross has studied sexuality and sexual and mental health for more than 30 years in several countries, including India, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam. Ross has also published more than 500 publications and books. Additionally, he worked extensively in prison environments and wrote a book about prison physical and mental health. Ross has also practiced as a clinical psychologist and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the British Psychological Society.