The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Turns 100
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is kicking off a yearlong, globe-spanning celebration of its Centennial year.
The School was founded on June 13, 1916, when Dr. William Henry Welch, the founding dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, announced that Johns Hopkins University received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to establish the School of Hygiene and Public Health.
Since its founding as the first independent, degree-granting institution for research and training in public health, the School has advanced research, education and practice to create population-level solutions to public health problems around the world. Today, what is now the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is not only the oldest such institution, but the largest and most highly regarded, ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report since the magazine started rating schools of its kind in 1994.
“The work that goes on in the Bloomberg School’s labs, classrooms and field sites around the world each day is awe-inspiring,” says Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH ’87, dean of the school. “The cumulative impact of a century of such dedication is incredible. This coming year, we’re looking forward to recognizing and celebrating what a remarkable institution this is.
“We are looking forward to a Centennial year filled with activities, events and conversations that both celebrate the past century of lifesaving contributions by the Bloomberg School and help us chart the next century’s priorities for improving health worldwide.”
In its first 100 years, the School helped to eradicate smallpox, make water safe to drink, improve child survival through better nutrition, reduce the spread of HIV and uncover the dangers of tobacco smoke. Heading into the next century, the School is working to prevent gun deaths, road traffic injuries, prescription drug abuse and obesity, while serving on the frontlines of efforts to reduce infant and child mortality and improve nutrition in the developing world.
Today, the School welcomes its Centennial class of master’s of public health students, who will receive their degrees in 2016.
In the coming year, the School will host a series of events and symposia to celebrate this milestone. These will include a plan to involve the School’s global network of nearly 20,000 graduates in the Centennial through 100 dinners around the world hosted by alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of the School. There will be a new book published on the School’s history, monthly events celebrating each of the School’s 10 academic departments, conversations about the future of public health and more.
“We aim to celebrate the Centennial year in true Hopkins fashion: With intellectual rigor, a renewed commitment to our mission, and some good old-fashioned fun for the entire School community,” Klag says.
For details, visit the School’s Centennial website.
Follow the conversation on Twitter, using the hashtag #JHSPH100.
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Media contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Stephanie Desmon at 410-955-7619 or sdesmon1@jhu.edu and Barbara Benham at (410) 614-6029 or bbenham1@jhu.edu.