Early life and education
Born in post-war England as the youngest of five children to a Portsmouth dock worker, Nutbeam grew up in challenging socioeconomic conditions, experiencing firsthand the impact of social conditions on health. Talking about his early years, Nutbeam said that these formative experiences shaped his understanding of the relationships between individual behaviors, social contexts, and health outcomes, themes that have underpinned his career. He holds an MA and Ph.D. in health education from the University of Southampton.Career
Nutbeam's career encompasses extensive experience across academia, government, and public health leadership. After completing a PhD at the University of Southampton, he held various roles in the NHS and served as Head of Research for the Welsh Heart Program (1985–1988) before becoming chief of research and policy development at the Health Promotion Authority for Wales. In 1990, he transitioned to academia, joining the University of Sydney as a professor of public health. During his tenure, he held leadership positions including head of the School of Public Health and associate dean of the Faculty of Medicine. From 2000 to 2003, Nutbeam served as head of public health at the UK Department of Health, where he developed a cross-government strategy to address health inequalities. In 2003, Nutbeam returned to theThe University of Southampton
During his tenure as vice-chancellor of the University of Southampton, Nutbeam played a significant role the development of the university’s Boldrewood Innovation Campus securing major investments from strategic partners Lloyds Register and the UK government to create a unique base for its engineering research and teaching. A major part of the facility was opened by HRH Princess Anne in 2015. Under Nutbeam's leadership, the university received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in February 2012, recognizing four decades of innovation and world-leading expertise in performance sports engineering. The award highlighted the university's contributions to supporting elite athletes, including Olympians such as Sir Chris Hoy and Amy Williams, through research in fields like fluid dynamics, structural engineering, and simulation technologies. Nutbeam lauded the accolade as a testament to Southampton's global impact in engineering and its collaboration with UK Sport to advance British athletic performance.Research and contributions
Nutbeam’s professional achievements include his role in developing the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in the 1980s, a landmark framework emphasizing the integration of education, environmental change, and community development in public health strategies. His influential 2000 paper, ''Health Literacy as a Public Health Goal'', has become a foundational work in the field, connecting health literacy to empowerment and the social determinants of health. Despite initial neglect, it gained significant recognition years later and has been widely cited.Selected publications
Articles
* Nutbeam, Don. "Evaluating health promotion—progress, problems and solutions." ''Health promotion international'' 13, no. 1 (1998): 27-44. * Nutbeam, Don, and Ilona Kickbusch. "Health promotion glossary." ''Health promotion international'' 13, no. 4 (1998): 349-364. * Nutbeam, Don. "Health literacy as a public health goal: a challenge for contemporary health education and communication strategies into the 21st century." Health promotion international 15, no. 3 (2000): 259-267. * Nutbeam, Don. "The evolving concept of health literacy." ''Social science & medicine'' 67, no. 12 (2008): 2072-2078. * Nutbeam, Don, Bronwyn McGill, and Pav Premkumar. "Improving health literacy in community populations: a review of progress." ''Health promotion international'' 33, no. 5 (2018): 901-911. * Nutbeam, Don, and Jane E. Lloyd. "Understanding and responding to health literacy as a social determinant of health." ''Annu Rev Public Health'' 42, no. 1 (2021): 159-73.Selected books
* Nutbeam, Don, Elizabeth Harris, and M. Wise. Theory in a nutshell: a practical guide to health promotion theories. (4th Edition) McGraw-Hill, Australia, 2022. * Bauman, Adrian, and Nutbeam, Don. (3rd Edition) Evaluation in a nutshell: a practical guide to the evaluation of health promotion programs. *Nutbeam, Don, Muscat Danielle. Health Literacy in a Nutshell: A practical guide to health communication. McGraw-Hill, Australia, 2023.Awards and honours
References
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutbeam, Donald Australian scientists Living people 1955 births Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Vice-chancellors of the University of Southampton