John P. Elia, Ph.D.

John Elia was appointed associate dean of the College of Health & Social Sciences in January 2016 after having served as interim associate dean since 2014. A professor and associate chair in the Department of Health Education, he has taught at SF State since 1987.

Elia teaches courses on the history of public health in the United States, contemporary sexuality, health in society, and health and social movements in the United States in the 20th century. He received the Sarlo Award for excellence in teaching in 2010. His expertise is in history and education. Elia's current research interests include the history of public health in San Francisco, school-based sexuality education, and historical and philosophical aspects of U.S. higher education. He has co-edited five books and has written numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and book reviews in the areas of human sexuality studies, and LGBT & queer studies. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Homosexuality, a landmark international peer-reviewed scholarly journal in sexuality studies. He earned bachelors’ degrees in history and physical education (kinesiology) and a master’s degree in history from San Francisco State University and received his Ph.D. in history and philosophy of American Education from the University of California, Davis.