Amy Acton

Amy Leigh Acton (née Stearns; born February 16, 1966) is an American physician and public-health researcher who served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health from 2019–2020. She played a leading role in Ohio's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early life and education Acton was born Amy Stearns and raised on the north side of Youngstown, Ohio, living "in 18 different places in a 12-year period, including in a tent when she was homeless." She described in a 2020 interview with Youngstown's WKBN having random neighbors give her and her brother breakfast "because they knew we were hungry" and also "people looking the other way, not wanting their kids to play with me because we were dirty and smelly." She described in a 2019 interview being neglected and abused while she lived with her mother following her parents' divorce. By 7th grade she was living with her father in a more stable environment, and at Liberty High School was a member of the National Honor Society and Homecoming queen. She attended Youngstown State University and earned a medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University in 1990, working to pay her way through college. She completed her residency in pediatrics and preventive medicine. She earned a master's in public health from Ohio State University. She completed her residencies at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Career Acton taught at Ohio State University as an associate professor of public health. She worked at the Columbus Foundation as a grants manager. She was director of Project LOVE (Love Our kids, Vaccinate Early).