Class of 2018: 916 Students Graduate From Johns Hopkins Bloomberg of Public Health
Largest class in the School’s 102-year history includes 153 doctoral degrees, 763 master’s, including the inaugural class of the School’s Online Programs for Applied Learning
Graduates representing 61 countries received their degrees from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health at Convocation on Tuesday, May 22, at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. The 916 graduates earned 153 doctoral degrees and 763 master’s. This is the largest graduating class in the School’s 102-year history.
Among the graduates were the inaugural class of the Bloomberg School’s Online Programs for Applied Learning, which launched in 2016. Twenty-nine students earned the School’s new Master of Applied Science in Spatial Analysis. While the program took place entirely online, 24 of the cohort’s graduating students traveled to attend Convocation from Canada, New Zealand and the U.S.
Dean Ellen J. MacKenzie presided over her first Convocation ceremony as Dean of the Bloomberg School. This was the 40th consecutive Convocation MacKenzie has attended, first as a doctoral student, then as a professor and department chair.
This year’s Convocation speaker was Dr. Leana S. Wen, Health Commissioner of Baltimore City. Dr. Wen is on the front lines of the most pressing public health issues of our times, including urban violence, health disparities, food insecurity and a deepening opioid crisis. The Baltimore City Health Department is the oldest, continuously operating health department in the U.S., formed in 1793, and serves community members in a variety of ways through education, policy/advocacy, direct service delivery and a number of programs and initiatives.
“We were so very honored to have Dr. Wen address our graduating students at the Bloomberg School of Public Health this year. She has inspired them to make a difference as she has done so effectively here in our hometown of Baltimore and nationally,” said MacKenzie.
At Convocation, MacKenzie awarded Dr. Wen the Dean’s Medal for her work advancing health and social justice in the city of Baltimore. The Dean’s Medal is the Bloomberg School’s highest honor and celebrates individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of public health.
“I was deeply honored to be invited by Dean Ellen MacKenzie to give this year’s Convocation address at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an institution that embodies its mission of saving lives—millions at a time,” said Dr. Wen. “In my role as Health Commissioner of Baltimore City, I have had the privilege of collaborating with the faculty, staff and students at the Bloomberg School, and feel fortunate to count them as partners in our work to improve the health and well-being of Baltimoreans. I celebrate these graduates as they go forward to use their training in public health to address disparities and combat injustice in Baltimore, across the country and around the world.”
Before receiving their degrees at Convocation, graduates stood and recited the International Declaration of Health Rights, a Bloomberg School tradition since the 1990s. The Declaration was composed by faculty and students on the occasion of the School’s 75th anniversary in 1991, and asks students to commit to “advocacy and action to promote the health rights of all human beings,” as they move forward in their public health careers.
The new graduates join a network of nearly 24,000 alumni around the world.
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Media contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Barbara Benham at 410-614-6029 or bbenham1@jhu.edu and Robin Scullin at 410-955-7619 or rsculli1@jhu.edu.