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Jamie Lynch
jamie lynch

Jamie Lynch

Dean of Natural and Social Sciences
Division of Natural and Social Sciences920-403-2939

Jamie Lynch was appointed dean of natural and social sciences in 2023, following his role as director of the Strategic Research Institute at the college. A Seattle native, he is a medical sociologist interested in explaining the role of health and education in social stratification. Lynch’s most recent research examines the causes and consequences of the education-health gradient in self-rated health and obesity. He teaches statistics and courses on public health, inequality and socialization.

As the dean of science, Lynch is committed to leveraging the strengths of natural and social science faculty and students to help our community confront the complex challenges of a changing world. With a strong commitment to both liberal arts education and science as a vocation, his leadership revolves around cultivating outstanding faculty, launching innovative programs and ensuring a solid future for the division.

  • SSCI 224 Basic Statistics
  • SOCI 236 Introduction to Public Health
  • SOCI 444 Health, Illness, and Society
  • SOCI 348 Socialization & the Life Course
  • SOCI 233 Sociology of Education

  • B.S. – Western Washington University
  • Ph.D. – The Ohio State University

  • Medical sociology
  • Health disparities
  • Obesity
  • Public health
  • Family

Lynch, Jamie L. and Paul T. von Hippel. 2016. “An Education Gradient in Health, a Health Gradient in Education, or a Confounded Gradient in Both?” Social Science & Medicine, 154:18-27.

Benson, Rebecca, Paul T. von Hippel, and Jamie Lynch. 2018. “Does More Education Cause Lower BMI, or Do Lower-BMI Individuals Become More Educated? Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979” Social Science & Medicine, 211: 370-377

Tumin, Dmitry, Adrianne Frech, Jamie L. Lynch, Vidya T. Raman, Tarun Bhalla, and Joseph D. Tobias. 2020. “Weight Gain Trajectory and Pain Interference in Young Adulthood: Evidence from a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study.” Pain Medicine, 21(3) 439-447.

Lynch, Jamie L. and Benjamin G. Gibbs. 2017. “Birth Weight and Early Cognitive Development: Does Parenting Mediate the Relationship?” Maternal and Child Health Journal, 21(1):165-167.

von Hippel, Paul, and Jamie L. Lynch. 2014. “Why are Educated Adults Slim—Causation or Selection?” Social Science & Medicine, 105:131-139. von Hippel, Paul .T., & Lynch, Jamie L. 2013. “Efficiency gains from using auxiliary variables in imputation.” arXiv:1311.5249.