F. Dubois Bowman, PhD
Dean, Roderick J. Little Collegiate Professor of BiostatisticsUniversity of Michigan School of Public Health
I am excited to share that the University of Michigan campus is filled with energy from our students, staff, and faculty. At Michigan Public Health, we remain committed to scholarship, research, and service toward a healthier, more equitable world. I am proud that our faculty, students, staff, and alumni have helped communities worldwide and at home find innovative solutions to public health problems. Our work continues to coalesce around three strategic drivers: Educational Innovation and Excellence; a Culture of Leadership, Service, and Inclusion; and Interdisciplinary Research and Transformative Impact.
Educational Innovation and Excellence
We continue to provide a world class education to our Michigan Public Health students. After two years of virtual graduation gatherings, we celebrated our graduating class of 2022 in person at the historic Elbel Field. We also welcomed back graduates from the 2020 and 2021 classes, providing an opportunity to celebrate all that they accomplished under challenging circumstances. This academic year, we welcomed 590 budding public health leaders across the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. Thanks partly to the generosity of alums and donors like you, these students will receive nearly 6% more in tuition support over the last year. However, to compete for today’s students, more funding is needed to ensure access to a Michigan Public Health education.
Our undergraduate program, now in its sixth year, will see record enrollment this year, with strong interest from students across the university. Many of the top schools of public health do not yet have a robust undergraduate program, and expanding this program for interested students further positions Michigan Public Health as a national leader in training the public health workforce of tomorrow. Many of our students encountered financial hardship before and during the pandemic, and there remains a growing need for support from alumni and
friends like you.
Amira Amir, a recent graduate, received scholarship support from our SPH Fund that proved critical to her ability to graduate. Of this support, Amira shared, “I do not know your names; however, you have helped me more than a lot of people I know, and you will forever be included in the story of my life. I recently had a baby and was struggling financially being a full-time student and a mother, but it is really amazing that people like you choose to help by giving others every opportunity to break through financial and emotional barriers and go to school to obtain quality education.” When you give to the SPH Fund, you help support students like Amira to pursue a top-tier public health education that will enable them to create a meaningful, lasting impact in our world.
A Culture of Leadership, Service, and Inclusion
Our work to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts remains among my top priorities. It is vital for the future of our field and society as a whole that we purposefully work to remove barriers to educational access, which keep highly qualified students from enrolling at Michigan Public Health. Most recently, we permanently removed the requirement for prospective master’s students to submit a GRE score, a decision motivated by our desire to increase equity and access to a public health education. Research shows that high GRE test scores correlate with a student’s socioeconomic status, race, and gender and underpredict students’ success in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and women in STEM fields. We continue to emphasize the importance of a holistic review of applications, which ensures that no single factor leads to either accepting or denying an applicant.
Our accelerated master’s program, just launched in coordination with Spelman College, is a purposeful effort to increase the recruitment of talented students through a direct pipeline to public health. Partnerships with Spelman and other institutions are designed to decrease barriers to entry and to increase diversity within the field of public health. Additionally, we have invested resources to hire a new Pathways Director and a staff member to provide more focused support for our diverse student body. The greatest barrier to access for underrepresented students is the cost. With your help, we can further reduce the financial burden for students and build a more equitable community at Michigan Public Health.
At Michigan Public Health, we believe that racism is a public health crisis that causes extensive harm to individuals, communities, and our society as a whole. The disproportionate reality of police violence against Black individuals and COVID-19’s devastating impact on communities of color has caused harm that will last for generations. Michigan Public Health is committed to pursuing a healthier, more equitable world for all. We stand with scholars across the field and individuals throughout the country who are working to combat racism in its myriad forms.
Interdisciplinary Research and Transformative Impact
One of the pillars of our school is the breadth and depth of research by our faculty, who boast the highest research output per capita at the University of Michigan. Public Health IDEAS: Interdisciplinary Discovery, Engagement + Actions for Society promotes an innovative, cross-disciplinary framework to tackle the most pressing public health challenges of today. Four critical research areas – Creating Healthy and Equitable Cities, Preventing Firearm Injuries, Improving Health Equity, and Combating Infectious Disease – are priorities in our IDEAS Initiative that aim to address short-term issues while paving a path to long-term transformation.
Our faculty across the school have made strides in research and scholarship in these and other areas, as well as incorporating innovative teaching strategies into their courses. Faculty support remains a critical fundraising priority, as professorships are among Michigan Public Health’s most important resources for developing and sustaining a strong cohort of educators and researchers and retaining those already here. U.S. News & World Report has once again recognized Michigan Public Health among the top 10 and the country’s number two public school of public health. We continue our work to meet the needs of our students and today’s public health workforce, and a review is underway to guide revisions of our core MPH curriculum to enhance our students’ experience while on campus. To truly be the best, we must continue our work to bring in the brightest minds and change agents in public health to Michigan. I believe that our community has the opportunity to lead in realizing these goals, but we can only achieve this kind of impact with collective efforts from all of us. A gift to the SPH Fund today can help ensure that all of our students can accept their first-choice internships, including those that are unpaid.
Our work in public health must be bold. Together, we can build a better future. We are determined to champion health for all populations by training committed public health professionals at Michigan Public Health. With your help, we can ensure that every qualified student has access to a University of Michigan School of Public Health education and that this education is unsurpassed in quality. No student should miss out on the opportunity to positively impact the world through public health education due to financial constraints.
Please join me, your fellow alumnus, and friends by making a gift that invests in the Michigan Public Health community.
Stay well, and Go Blue!
F. DuBois Bowman, PhD
Dean of the School of Public Health
Roderick J. Little Collegiate Professor of Biostatistics
Educational Innovation and Excellence
We continue to provide a world class education to our Michigan Public Health students. After two years of virtual graduation gatherings, we celebrated our graduating class of 2022 in person at the historic Elbel Field. We also welcomed back graduates from the 2020 and 2021 classes, providing an opportunity to celebrate all that they accomplished under challenging circumstances. This academic year, we welcomed 590 budding public health leaders across the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. Thanks partly to the generosity of alums and donors like you, these students will receive nearly 6% more in tuition support over the last year. However, to compete for today’s students, more funding is needed to ensure access to a Michigan Public Health education.
Our undergraduate program, now in its sixth year, will see record enrollment this year, with strong interest from students across the university. Many of the top schools of public health do not yet have a robust undergraduate program, and expanding this program for interested students further positions Michigan Public Health as a national leader in training the public health workforce of tomorrow. Many of our students encountered financial hardship before and during the pandemic, and there remains a growing need for support from alumni and
friends like you.
Amira Amir, a recent graduate, received scholarship support from our SPH Fund that proved critical to her ability to graduate. Of this support, Amira shared, “I do not know your names; however, you have helped me more than a lot of people I know, and you will forever be included in the story of my life. I recently had a baby and was struggling financially being a full-time student and a mother, but it is really amazing that people like you choose to help by giving others every opportunity to break through financial and emotional barriers and go to school to obtain quality education.” When you give to the SPH Fund, you help support students like Amira to pursue a top-tier public health education that will enable them to create a meaningful, lasting impact in our world.
A Culture of Leadership, Service, and Inclusion
Our work to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts remains among my top priorities. It is vital for the future of our field and society as a whole that we purposefully work to remove barriers to educational access, which keep highly qualified students from enrolling at Michigan Public Health. Most recently, we permanently removed the requirement for prospective master’s students to submit a GRE score, a decision motivated by our desire to increase equity and access to a public health education. Research shows that high GRE test scores correlate with a student’s socioeconomic status, race, and gender and underpredict students’ success in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and women in STEM fields. We continue to emphasize the importance of a holistic review of applications, which ensures that no single factor leads to either accepting or denying an applicant.
Our accelerated master’s program, just launched in coordination with Spelman College, is a purposeful effort to increase the recruitment of talented students through a direct pipeline to public health. Partnerships with Spelman and other institutions are designed to decrease barriers to entry and to increase diversity within the field of public health. Additionally, we have invested resources to hire a new Pathways Director and a staff member to provide more focused support for our diverse student body. The greatest barrier to access for underrepresented students is the cost. With your help, we can further reduce the financial burden for students and build a more equitable community at Michigan Public Health.
At Michigan Public Health, we believe that racism is a public health crisis that causes extensive harm to individuals, communities, and our society as a whole. The disproportionate reality of police violence against Black individuals and COVID-19’s devastating impact on communities of color has caused harm that will last for generations. Michigan Public Health is committed to pursuing a healthier, more equitable world for all. We stand with scholars across the field and individuals throughout the country who are working to combat racism in its myriad forms.
Interdisciplinary Research and Transformative Impact
One of the pillars of our school is the breadth and depth of research by our faculty, who boast the highest research output per capita at the University of Michigan. Public Health IDEAS: Interdisciplinary Discovery, Engagement + Actions for Society promotes an innovative, cross-disciplinary framework to tackle the most pressing public health challenges of today. Four critical research areas – Creating Healthy and Equitable Cities, Preventing Firearm Injuries, Improving Health Equity, and Combating Infectious Disease – are priorities in our IDEAS Initiative that aim to address short-term issues while paving a path to long-term transformation.
Our faculty across the school have made strides in research and scholarship in these and other areas, as well as incorporating innovative teaching strategies into their courses. Faculty support remains a critical fundraising priority, as professorships are among Michigan Public Health’s most important resources for developing and sustaining a strong cohort of educators and researchers and retaining those already here. U.S. News & World Report has once again recognized Michigan Public Health among the top 10 and the country’s number two public school of public health. We continue our work to meet the needs of our students and today’s public health workforce, and a review is underway to guide revisions of our core MPH curriculum to enhance our students’ experience while on campus. To truly be the best, we must continue our work to bring in the brightest minds and change agents in public health to Michigan. I believe that our community has the opportunity to lead in realizing these goals, but we can only achieve this kind of impact with collective efforts from all of us. A gift to the SPH Fund today can help ensure that all of our students can accept their first-choice internships, including those that are unpaid.
Our work in public health must be bold. Together, we can build a better future. We are determined to champion health for all populations by training committed public health professionals at Michigan Public Health. With your help, we can ensure that every qualified student has access to a University of Michigan School of Public Health education and that this education is unsurpassed in quality. No student should miss out on the opportunity to positively impact the world through public health education due to financial constraints.
Please join me, your fellow alumnus, and friends by making a gift that invests in the Michigan Public Health community.
Stay well, and Go Blue!
F. DuBois Bowman, PhD
Dean of the School of Public Health
Roderick J. Little Collegiate Professor of Biostatistics