Philip A. Belcastro

Professor Philip A. Belcastro is Chair of the Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York (BMCC/CUNY) Health Education department. He has published over 26 refereed professional articles, rendered 39 professional presentations at national and international health and medical conferences and amassed 39 years of teaching, administration and curriculum development experience at the primary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate level.
Professor Belcastro has also held administrative roles in two state education departments, served as an elected School Board Trustee in Rockland County, New York and co-authored a widely used college textbook, Connections for Health, which is now in its fourth edition.
“The personal reward in being a health educator,” Belcastro says, “is making life more satisfying, promising and healthy for every person you encounter.” His research in the field is documented most recently in an article he co-authored, “Investigating the Association of Health Literacy with Health Knowledge and Health Behavior Outcomes in a Sample of Urban Community College Undergraduates,” which appears in the American Journal of Health Education.
Belcastro’s higher education service has included membership in external CUNY committees including the CUNY/University Faculty Governance Leaders Council (2008 to 2012), and the CUNY Council of Chairpersons of Health Disciplines, 2006 to present.
Within BMCC, Belcastro has served as chairperson of the Academic Senate and was appointed chairperson of both the Middle States Evaluation Committee and BMCC Curriculum Committee. He holds a New York State Education Department Permanent Teaching Certification in Health Education and has advised doctoral and master’s degree candidates in their research ranging from stress reduction programs to attitudes about abortion.