Ranelle Brew, Ed.D, MS, CHES

Dr. Ranelle Brew is Chair of the Department of Public Health and serves as Director of the Master of Public Health program.

Director, Master of Public Health program
Professor


[email protected]

Dr. Brew teaches as a Full Professor for the Public Health program at Grand Valley State University and serves as the MPH Program Director. 

She has worked in public health care for over 25 years in various settings, including clinically, within the public school system, in geriatric health, fitness, and currently in higher education. She has over 25 years of higher education teaching experience in both New York City and West Michigan.

Dr. Brew teaches courses in Public Health Promotion and Education emphasis, as well as the Introduction to Public Health and Global Health courses. Teaching online is an area of expertise of Dr. Brew, as she has taught, designed curriculum, and trained faculty using these technologies for the past two decades. She is the author of instructor materials for F.A. Davis Publishing for Medical Terminology, Simplified, and a children’s book entitled Healthy Days.  

Dr. Brew's current research interests include public health workforce development, breastfeeding, accessibility, after-school wellness programming, and global health. As co-director, she ran an annual summer health professions camp for 14 years entitled sHaPe Camp, which has won a 2018 Hometown Health Hero Award for its pipeline and diversity impact in the community, as well as the 2020 national Society for Public Health Education, Clarence E. Pearson Award. Partnered with Lowell Community Wellness, she had co-led 5+ years of after-school wellness camps for elementary students in the Lowell Public School system, winning a 2021 Hometown Health Hero Award.

Dr. Brew travels annually with students on global and domestically focused public health service-learning trips. She’s traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, Ghana, West Africa, Beijing, China, Tacloban City, Philippines, Manenberg, South Africa, Athens/Ikaria, Greece, the Nicoya Coast of Costa Rica, and Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa, Japan, as well as numerous domestic cities with students on service learning, study abroad trips. Current work is focusing on the five Blue Zones locations, studying longevity and centenarians. She is currently pursuing a national certification as a Certified Longevity Coach. 

Dr. Brew serves the public health community extensively. She has served as a Past-President (2013-2015) for the Michigan Public Health Association (MPHA) and Past-President (2019) for the Great Lakes Chapter of the Society of Public Health Education (GLC-SOPHE). She is an active member of the American Public Health Association (APHA), social co-chair for the PHEHP section, and a national member of the Society of Public Health Education (SOPHE) and the National Delegate for GLC-SOPHE.

Her Doctoral and double Master's degrees are from Columbia University in Education and Health Sciences, respectively, and recently she completed the Yale University Executive Women's Leadership program. Her doctoral research included Adolescent Asthma Health Education in New York City public schools through collaboration between New York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University. 

Return to faculty for Public Health, M.P.H.



Page last modified August 29, 2025