Elizabeth Chen Appointed to Lead Online MHA Program
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The SPHHS has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Chen as the inaugural program director for its new online Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree program. She will join the SPHHS faculty as a Professor of Practice effective June 30, 2025.
Chen is a highly accomplished leader with a distinguished career in executive administration across three sectors - pharmaceuticals/biotechnology, academia, and public service. Most recently, she served as the Secretary for the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (now called the Executive Office of Aging and Independence) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – the state government unit responsible for nearly $1 billion of federal and state funded services delivered to 1.7 million older adults.
"I’m thrilled to welcome Dr. Elizabeth Chen to UMass as the inaugural Program Director for the new Online MHA Program," says Elizabeth Evans, Interim Chair and Professor of Health Promotion and Policy. "Trained as a gerontologist, Dr. Chen’s distinguished career over three decades has been dedicated to higher education, executive leadership roles in public health, and public service. I cannot be more eager to collaborate with Dr. Chen in the upcoming year as she leads us to create new learning communities and other opportunities for UMass students, faculty, and staff."
The part-time, online MHA program is structured for working professionals who want to advance their careers in health care delivery and adjacent industries. The program was formally approved in 2024 by the UMass Board of Trustees and the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and will welcome its first cohort of students beginning in Fall 2025.
"I am very excited for the opportunity to apply my public health experience in the government, business, and not-for-profit sectors toward educating this and the next generation of practitioners who work to deliver optimal health outcomes in their communities," says Chen. "My goals for the MHA program are to provide students with the core skills they need to advance into senior roles in health care administration. I want graduates to look back on their experience at UMass Amherst and say to themselves and others that investing in the MHA was worth it; that they use the skills learned in the program every day; and have changed how they approach their jobs due to new insights and a better understanding for how their current and future roles fit into the broader picture of health care delivery."
As Secretary, Chen led senior care organizations through the early lethal days of the COVID-19 pandemic, to delivering the first doses of vaccinations to 170,000 people living in 2,300 residential care settings, and finally a return to a new normal. Chen’s contributions as Secretary are vast and include expanding the size of the home care workforce by creating an online certification course, free of charge and in 7 languages; developing and implementing a continuous quality improvement system for every service line; advocating for improving end-of-life care which resulted in the POLST legislation; and holding true to her goals to see people who feel unseen and to hear people who feel unheard when leading operations and policy development.
Prior to serving as Secretary, Chen was an Assistant Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where she was responsible for regulatory oversight of the state’s health care professionals and health care settings, including Determination of Need. In this role, she shepherded the orderly relocation of over 2,000 nursing home residents in a period of industry consolidation.
In the private sector, Chen was President of the New England College of Optometry and New England Eye Institute, and the CEO of two biotech companies. In those roles, she established the first high-tech remote teaching classroom at the New England College of Optometry in 2007; was the Founding CEO of the country’s first independent biologics manufacturing company in 1996 (Marathon Biopharmaceuticals); and shepherded the final stages of product approval for a first of its kind cancer treatment.
Chen earned a Ph.D. in Gerontology from the University of Massachusetts Boston, an M.P.H. in Health Policy from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, an M.B.A. in International Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in Organizational Behavior from Yale University. She holds an Honorary Doctor of Science from the School of Pharmacy at MCPHS University.