Thomas C. Ricketts III, PhD, MPH

Editor in Chief, NCMJ

Thomas Ricketts is the editor in chief of the NCMJ. He is professor of health policy and administration and social medicine and director of the Health Policy Analysis Unit in the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The focus of his research has been on policy making in health care workforce and access to care for rural and underserved populations. He was the founding director of the North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center, which he led from 1988 to 2000. In 2003, he was named the director of the Southeastern Regional Center for Health Workforce Studies, which he currently leads. Dr. Ricketts is a delegate to the International Medical Workforce Collaborative and works actively in health workforce policy making and research. He has been the principal investigator for numerous research projects and has been involved in the development of legislation and federal and state rules focused on the distribution of health resources and health care practitioners. Since 2001 he has chaired the Technical Advisory Committee to the United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings. In 2004 he was appointed to a 4-year term to the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services.

In 1997 Dr. Ricketts received the Distinguished Rural Health Researcher award from the National Rural Health Association and, in 1998, the Cecil G. Sheps Distinguished Investigator award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a member of the NCIOM and serves as an advisor to national and state health policy organizations. Dr. Ricketts was editor of the Journal of Rural Health from 1990 until 1996 and is currently on the editorial board of Health & Place. Dr. Ricketts received an undergraduate degree, an MPH, and a PhD in health policy and administration from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Dr. Ricketts lives with his wife Diana and has a daughter.