Fevzi Akinci

Fevzi Akinci, Ph.D., M.H.A., FASAHP, is Dean of the John G. Rangos, Sr. School of Health Sciences and a tenured Professor of Health Administration and Public Health at Duquesne University. Now serving in his third term as Dean, Dr. Akinci provides strategic and enterprise leadership for one of the University’s largest academic units, overseeing six departments and the Duquesne–China Health Institute and serving a community of more than 1,000 students, 50 faculty, and 20 staff. Under his leadership, the School has achieved sustained financial strength while advancing academic excellence, enrollment growth, research and innovation, community engagement, global partnerships, and long-range infrastructure development.

Since joining Duquesne in 2017, Dr. Akinci has led the development and implementation of two comprehensive multi-year strategic plans, helping position the Rangos School among the University’s strongest-performing and fastest-growing academic units. Under his leadership, the School has consistently met or exceeded freshman enrollment targets, achieved 93 percent retention and graduation rates, maintained specialized accreditation across its academic programs, and supported multiple programs with 100 percent licensure pass rates. He has expanded the School’s academic portfolio through new and emerging programs in health sciences, public health, health administration, and online micro-credentials, while strengthening interprofessional, simulation-based, and community-engaged learning.

A major focus of Dr. Akinci’s deanship has been building the people, infrastructure, and partnerships needed for the School’s long-term future. He created the School’s inaugural associate and assistant dean leadership structure, strengthened shared governance and faculty development, and supported a 100 percent promotion and tenure success rate among eligible faculty. Strategic investments during his tenure have supported more than 40 grants and contracts totaling over $4.4 million and more than $2 million in simulation, anatomy, and laboratory modernization. In partnership with University leadership, he also helped plan and secure approval for a transformational 80,000-square-foot, approximately $68 million Health Sciences Building, designed to expand interdisciplinary education, research capacity, and the School’s impact for generations to come.

Dr. Akinci has also advanced the Rangos School’s regional, national, and global reach. He founded and scaled the Duquesne–China Health Institute into a significant international education enterprise serving more than 300 alumni and has cultivated academic, research, and visiting-scholar partnerships across multiple countries. His leadership has expanded the School’s clinical and experiential network to more than 1,700 affiliations and strengthened community partnerships that connect education with service and health improvement. The Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) recognized the Rangos School with a Program of Merit in 2023 for leadership in interprofessional education and collaborative care.

Before joining Duquesne, Dr. Akinci served at King’s College as Associate Dean of the School of Business and Director and Tenured Professor of Health Care Administration. He previously held a tenured faculty appointment in Health Policy and Administration at Washington State University Spokane and earlier served at King’s College as Assistant Professor, Program Director, and Acting Chair.  Dr. Akinci’s teaching expertise includes health care economics, research and evaluation methods, health care finance, and health care management decision science.

An accomplished health services researcher and educator, Dr. Akinci’s scholarship focuses on health services research methods, health care economics, burden of disease and cost-effectiveness analysis, access and utilization, chronic disease management, and comparative health systems. Dr. Akinci's scholarly research accomplishments include over $1.6 million funded research projects, 42 refereed journal articles, 4 refereed book chapters, 35 refereed proceeding publications, 4 refereed abstracts, and 4 professional/other journal articles. His work has appeared in nationally and internationally recognized journals, including Health Policy, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, International Journal of Nursing Studies, Quality of Life Research, Journal of Health Administration Education, and Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. His funded research has included projects supported by the World Bank, government agencies, health systems, and academic foundations.

Dr. Akinci is a Fellow and member of the Board of Directors of ASAHP and serves on the Board of East Liberty Family Health Care Center and the advisory board of the School of Health and Environmental Studies at Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University in Dubai. He served as a Fellow of the Commission on Accreditation Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) in 1999 and as a member of the CAHME Criteria Review Committee between 1999 and 2001.  Dr. Akinci’s professional recognition includes the 2025 ASAHP Trailblazer Award, the 2018 ASAHP Cultural Pluralism Award, the Washington State University Spokane Faculty Excellence Award, multiple student-selected teaching awards, the Mark R. Leffler Scholar of the Year Award at King’s College, and the Mary Gumble Levy Award at Saint Louis University.

Dr. Akinci earned his Ph.D. in Health Services Research, with a minor in Economics, and his M.H.A. in Health Administration from Saint Louis University. He earned his B.S. in Health Administration from Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, graduating first in his class. He has also completed executive development programs at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, including the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education.

• Ph.D., Health Services Research (Minor: Economics), Saint Louis University, 1999
• M.H.A., Health Administration, Saint Louis University, 1995
• B.S., Health Administration, Hacettepe University, Turkey, 1991 (first in class)

• Health services research methods
• Health care economics
• Burden of disease and cost-effectiveness analysis
• Access, utilization, and chronic disease management
• Comparative health system analysis