Dr. David Tillman, chair and professor of Public Health at Campbell University, continues to receive national and global recognition for his leadership at the intersection of faith, health and public service.
Tillman was recently named a Global Leading Causes of Life Initiative (LCLI) Fellow, an international fellowship based in Cape Town, South Africa. He was recognized for his work integrating faith and health and for his leadership as a Templeton Fellow with Interfaith America, a distinction he will hold through 2026. The LCLI brings together fellows from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to explore the “leading causes of life” through collaboration, connection, and generative convening, emphasizing hope, coherence, and agency in a complex world.
Beginning in 2025, Tillman joined a select group of national leaders and physicians for the launch of Interfaith America’s Faith in Health Professions initiative, a three-year program funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The initiative is designed to foster respectful engagement with diverse faith traditions across the health landscape through education, research, and community partnerships. Fellows will help guide campus-based projects, ensuring they build upon existing research while advancing new questions about the positive role of diverse religious identities in healthcare.
The fellowship cohort includes prominent leaders such as Dr. Gary Gunderson, who was tapped by President Jimmy Carter to lead an interfaith health initiative at The Carter Center; Dr. Katelyn Long of Harvard University, lead author of Religion as a Social Determinant of Health; Dr. Sana Syed, president of the American Muslim Health Professionals; and Dr. Linda Alexander, chief academic officer of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.
In addition to these national and global roles, Tillman continues to contribute to public health scholarship and accreditation efforts. He recently submitted Campbell’s annual report to the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). He also provided invited commentary for a recent issue of the North Carolina Medical Journal, authoring a piece titled Rural Disinvestment and the Fragility of North Carolina’s Expansion: Responding to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
A Campbell alumnus, Tillman earned his bachelor’s degree in 2001 and his master’s degree in education in 2006 before completing his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at North Carolina State University in 2012.
Through his scholarship, leadership, and service, Tillman exemplifies Campbell University’s commitment to purpose-driven education and the pursuit of healthier, more just communities locally, nationally and globally.