Dr. Michael Thomsen

Board of Directors

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences | 2025-2027

Michael Thomsen joined UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health in July 2021 after 23 years on the faculty at UA Fayetteville and the UA System Division of Agriculture. Over his career, Mike’s research has focused on the intersection between the food distribution system and human health. He made important contributions to the economics of food safety and has led multidisciplinary initiatives to promote economically viable local food systems. Since 2010, childhood obesity prevention has formed the core of Mike’s program with a focus on environmental contributors to excess weight gain and understanding the needs of student populations at greatest risk for developing obesity. Mike’s current research at UAMS focuses on green schoolyard improvements, childhood mental health, and child nutrition programs. The center he directs is an established Partners in Education site with the Little Rock School District. Mike’s center receives external funding from the USDA, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute on Minority and Health Disparities. Mike earned his BS and MS degrees from Utah State University in Agricultural Economics and his PhD from the University of Minnesota in Agricultural and Applied Economics. He is presently Directs the Center for the Study of Obesity at UAMS where he holds the Governor Sidney S. McMath Endowed Chair in Obesity Prevention. Mike and his wife, Judith Wang, have two daughters aged 22 and 16, who have benefitted immensely from dedicated and creative educators in Arkansas’s public-schools.