Associate Professor
Michigan State University
Known locally as the “map guy,” Dr. Dick Sadler’s skills in geographic information science and community-based public health research can be applied to many local needs and applications. A tenured associate professor in the Department of Public Health at Michigan State University’s research unit in Flint, his work revolves around building the evidence base for what makes some cities more conducive to happy and healthy lifestyles than others.
Sadler was the geographer on the seminal paper that helped bring media attention to the Flint Water Crisis. Additionally, he was partly responsible for the conception of the Flint Fresh Mobile Market and was closely involved in health department surveillance of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also the associate chair for research in MSU’s Department of Family Medicine and chair of the Health & Medical Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers.
A Flint native, Sadler graduated from Atherton High School and the University of Michigan-Flint. He earned his doctorate in 2013 from the University of Western Ontario and his Master of Public Health degree in 2020 from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a Bloomberg Fellow.
Sadler has published more than 80 academic papers, presented at over 60 scientific conferences, delivered over 250 invited talks and course lectures, and been awarded several federal grants from organizations including the National Institutes of Health. He previously moonlighted at the Genesee County Land Bank, Genesee County Health Department, and City of Flint Department of Planning and Development.
Sadler is an active member of the Flint community including Court Street United Methodist Church, Scouting America, Genesee County Land Bank Clean & Green, Theta Chi Fraternity, Edible Flint, Flint Fresh Food Hub, and Social Cycling Flint.