Dean's
Message
Greetings and Welcome to Our School of Public Health
Website!
The end of another academic year is always an appropriate time for reflecting on the successes of the past year and looking forward to the challenges and prospects for the coming year. It is a great pleasure for me to be able to say that despite the fact that I had very high expectations for the School of Public Health when I arrived last year, my expectations have been exceeded.
Almost every day in a course or classroom, meeting or event, division or program, I discovered another “hidden gem” among our faculty, students, staff or alumni, whose energy, creativity and passion for teaching, research and service was expanding the limits of our knowledge, cultivating the next generation of scholars and practitioners, and improving the health of the public. I am confident that some of the new initiatives begun over the past year will help further these efforts.
For example, the research mentoring and pilot grant program for the school will promote the development of young faculty and increase our research base. Plans for the launching of the online DrPH in the fall of 2010 are well underway and on schedule and will further extend the reach of our teaching programs outside the bounds of the campus and help to meet the future needs for a larger and better trained public health workforce for the state of Illinois, the country and beyond. Similarly, the new agreement for joint MPH training with the Peace Corps, which will begin this fall, will expand the global reach and impact of the school.
In the coming year, I am certain there will be many more opportunities for the school to shape the future of public health. Along with the other crises that we face as a nation and a world, the critical importance of the health of the public has risen to new prominence. We still have not solved the long-standing issues of access to health care and the elimination of health disparities, among others. Additionally, we constantly are faced with new issues such as emerging infectious diseases and the health impacts of global climate change. The good news is that society now seems prepared to face these issues. Schools of public health in particular, but institutions of higher learning generally, must be engaged in the process.
I am delighted to report that our faculty have been engaged in making solid contributions to understanding and solving many of these issues and have been helping the public understand the vital role that public health professionals play in protecting their health. Last year, I said that I came here because I felt that the School of Public Health and UIC have the commitment to engagement of institutions of higher learning to be agents of positive change in society, applying knowledge wisely, widely and humanely to build a better world. Now, more than ever, is the time to expand our engagement to achieve that positive change. I expect the UIC School of Public Health to increasingly play a key role in this process, leading the way to a healthier future for all.
Paul Brandt-Rauf, DrPH, MD, ScD
Dean
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