Gary G. Bennett, Ph.D. is vice provost for undergraduate education and professor of psychology & neuroscience, global health, and medicine at Duke University.
As vice provost, Dr. Bennett drives Duke's undergraduate education strategy, leads curricular and co-curricular programs, and serves as the university's primary spokesperson for undergraduate concerns.
He directs Duke's Office of Undergraduate Education, which is comprised of 15 units (including academic advising, academic support, nationally competitive scholarships, merit scholar programs, financial aid, study abroad, as well as vibrant co-curricular programs like Duke Engage and Duke Immerse) that enrich Duke's undergraduate academic experience.
Dr. Bennett’s research program designs, tests, and disseminates digital obesity treatments. He is the founding director of the Duke Digital Health Science Center and Past-President of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the nation's largest organization of behavioral change scientists.
Dr. Bennett is especially interested in integrating digital health treatments into the primary care setting, particularly those that serve medically vulnerable patients. Dr. Bennett developed the interactive obesity treatment approach (iOTA); his recent work demonstrates the effectiveness of digital strategies in treating obesity and improving cardiometabolic functioning. He has authored more than 150 scientific papers, and his research program has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bennett is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, is an elected member of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and Behavioral Medicine Research Council.
Dr. Bennett’s research has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, Time, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox News, and many other media outlets. Dr. Bennett has served on numerous NIH panels, editorial boards, guidelines committees, and advises several health care, and health technology organizations. Bennett was a member of the American Psychological Association’s obesity treatment guidelines panel and has worked with committees at Girl Trek, the Institute of Medicine, American Heart Association, and American Council on Exercise to reduce Americans’ high rates of obesity and physical inactivity.
Dr. Bennett also co-founded three digital health startups. Crimson Health Solutions developed digital disease management interventions and was acquired by Health Dialog in 2007. In 2014, he co-founded Scale Down, a digital obesity treatment startup based on the science of daily self-weighing. Scale Down was acquired by Anthem in 2017. He is a co-founder of Coeus Health, a leading provider of health APIs. He advises leading digital health and consumer electronic organizations on the science of health behavior change.
At Duke, Dr. Bennett is a member of Duke’s Bass Society of Fellows, is the founding director of Duke’s undergraduate major in global health, has served on committees to examine Duke's undergraduate curriculum and develop the university's strategic plan. His students' course ratings have repeatedly placed Dr. Bennett in the top 5% of Duke’s undergraduate instructors.
Prior to joining Duke in 2009, Dr. Bennett served on the faculties of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Bennett earned a bachelor's degree at Morehouse College, a PhD in clinical health psychology at Duke University, and was the Alonzo Yerby postdoctoral fellow in social epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.
