Stephen H. Linder, Ph.D., is a professor in management, policy and community health and director of the Institute for Health Policy at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. He completed his doctoral degree in political science at the University of Iowa and served on the faculties of UCLA and Tulane. Linder was named a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor, elected to the Kenneth I. Shine Academy for Health Science Education and was recently appointed the Distinguished Teaching Professor of The University of Texas System. He currently serves on the boards of Mental Health America of Greater Houston, the Texas Environmental Research Consortium, the Steering Committee of the National Network of State and Local Health Surveys and the Collaborative Council of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. Linder has ongoing research projects in health disparities, needs assessment, cumulative health risks and the interface between health risks and environmental sustainability.