Class of 2014 Set to Blaze Trails in Public Health

May 20, 2014

Today, 378 members of the Class of 2014 collected degrees from the Mailman School of Public Health. An additional 188 students in the Class of 2014 graduated in May 2014 and October 2013. The Commencement exercises in the 168th Street Armory began with a processional of faculty and students and concluded with a collective recitation of the Public Health Oath.

“For millions, for billions of people, your graduation is one of the most important days there will ever be,” said Dean Linda P. Fried. “It marks the moment you take the knowledge and expertise acquired and cultivated here at the Mailman School and deploy it on behalf of populations all over the world.”

The milestone occasion for the students and their families was also “a celebration for those whose lives you will enrich and whose health you will improve,” Dean Fried said.  

Dean Linda P. Fried addresses the Class of 2014

Curricular Pioneers, Promising Careers Ahead

Among the new graduates was the first full class to complete the new Columbia Master of Public Health curriculum.

Introduced in the fall of 2012, the curriculum was designed to prepare students to address complex health challenges and provide an interdisciplinary education that more closely matches the reality of the workplace. The curriculum’s features include a new interdisciplinary core, a program in leadership and innovation, and a case-study-based course that marries public health theory and practice.

Adding to their professional capacity, MPH students in the Class of 2014 were able to select from more than 20 certificate programs, and many chose an area distinct from their area of major specialization. Graduates earned certificates in such interdisciplinary fields as climate and health, health of an aging society, and public health, and humanitarian assistance.

A total of 501 MPH degrees were conferred to the Class of 2014, along with 42 Master of Science and 23 doctoral degrees.

Graduates of the class of 2014 have accepted positions at Fortune 500 healthcare companies, global organizations and think tanks and government agencies, many of which recruited on campus for the first time. The overwhelming majority of them are expected to have jobs by the end of the year. In fact, 95% of last year’s graduates working in the field six months after graduation.

John Rowe delivers the Commencement Address

Lessons in Leadership and Service

In his Commencement Address, John Rowe, MD, chair of the School’s Board of Overseers and a faculty member in the department of Health Policy and Management, reflected on the value of leadership and offered advice on how to be a good leader.

Leadership can be learned, suggested the past president of Mount Sinai and CEO of Aetna, and there is no single way to lead. “Whatever your personal style, it is fully compatible with leadership.” Dr. Rowe went on to define management and leadership as distinct: the former is concerned with administration and the short term, while the latter is about innovation and looking to the future. “In short managers do things right, and leaders do the right things,” said Dr. Rowe.

Mailman is one the only schools of public health or medicine to teach leadership and innovation—skills, according to Dr. Rowe, that will serve the graduates well in the current employment landscape. Changes in the healthcare system are bringing about a convergence of medicine and public health. As a result, said Dr. Rowe, there is increasing demand “for professionals with expertise in the principles and practice of public health.”

Noe’ Duran Romo, MD, a pediatrician and 2014 Master of Science graduate in Epidemiology, delivered remarks on behalf of the graduating class, reflecting on perspectives gained through a public health education, particularly the understanding that health is more than the sum of individual behaviors and biology.

“Now we see the inequities of our time that divide. Now we see the fundamental determinants of who is healthy and who is ill, and of who lives and who dies,” said Romo. This perspective obligates us to challenge the system that neglects agents of disease “simply because they appear beyond or reach or because they call into question the very fabric of our society,” he added.

Awards and Honors

Three outstanding teachers were recognized for their merits. Sophie Soares, an officer in Student Government Association and member of the Class of 2014, presented the Teaching Excellence Award to Amy Fairchild, PhD, MPH, professor of Sociomedical Sciences, and the Junior Faculty Teaching Award to Margaret Kruk, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management. Marlyn Delva, EdD, Dean of Students, recognized Roger Vaughan, DrPH, Vice Dean for Academic Advancement, for his University Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching.

(See below for the full list of award winners.)

Graduates recite the Public Health Oath

Capping It Off

Doctoral graduates were given diplomas and “hooded” by the chairs of the departments where they studied. Master’s students were given diplomas.

Hundreds of well-wishers, including families and friends cheered on the graduates. Participants and onlookers alike took photos and shared their experiences on social media under the hashtag #CUpublichealth2014.

Lee Goldman, MD, MPH, executive vice president for Health and Biomedical Sciences, Dean of the faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences at Columbia University and a member of the department of Epidemiology, and Kathleen Crowley, DrPH 2013, vice president of Environmental Health and Safety for Columbia University and the incoming president of the School’s Alumni Board, both offered their congratulations to the graduates.

The Commencement ceremony concluded with a recitation of the Public Health Oath, which Dean Fried noted is “but one of many innovations of the Mailman School in its 90 years of history.”

Watch Commencement here.

Award Winners

  • The Teaching Excellence Award is presented by students in the Class of 2014 to honor faculty whose stimulating classroom presentation inspires and challenges students, and whose contributions through teaching and advising will be long remembered. — Amy Fairchild
  • The Junior Faculty Teaching Award is presented to an assistant professor, early in his or her career at the School, who is making outstanding contributions to education. — Margaret E. Kruk
  • The Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award recognizes exceptional contributions by a teaching assistant who displays peerless dedication to student learning, remarkable commitment to supporting course operations, and excellence in communication with students. — Allison Salena Larr, Christopher Alexander Tait
  • The John and Kathleen Gorman Public Health Humanitarian Award is given to students who have demonstrated excellence in commitment to the humane care of individuals and communities, and in advancing consideration of human rights and values in health care and prevention. — Christin E. Gilmer
  • The Joseph L. Fleiss Memorial Prize in Biostatistics is awarded to a Biostatistics student whose outstanding dissertation advances statistical methods and their applications to biomedicine and public health. — Chih-Chi Hu
  • The Sanford Bolton-John Fertig Award in Biostatistics is awarded to the top doctoral dissertation in Biostatistics, in recognition of the strong influence John Fertig had on students through his encouragement, help, and outstanding teaching. — Adam J. Ciarleglio
  • The Joseph H. Graziano Award for Academic Excellence in Environmental Health Sciences for the MPH Degree is given to a student in the Department for outstanding academic achievement and promise in the field of public health. — Allison Salena Larr
  • The I. Bernard Weinstein Award for Academic Excellence in Environmental Health Sciences for the DrPH/PhD is given to a student in the Department for outstanding academic achievement and promise in the field of public health. — Megan Niedzwiecki
  • The Anna C. Gelman Award for Excellence in Epidemiology is given to students in the Department for high academic distinction and the potential for significant contributions to the field of public health. — Garazi Zulaika, Catherine Richards
  • The Sidney Kark Award in Epidemiology is given to students in the Department who are committed to research in global health. — Ginger M. Golub, Eduard Eduardo
  • The William Farr Award in Epidemiology is given to students in the Department who have shown commitment to understanding or addressing the causes of social inequalities in health. — Ying Huang
  • The Susan P. Baker Award in Injury Epidemiology is given to a graduating master’s student at Columbia University for outstanding performance in thesis research in the area of injury epidemiology and prevention. — Eli T. Raneses
  • The William Haddon Jr. Award in Injury Epidemiology is given to a graduating doctoral student at Columbia University for outstanding contributions to injury epidemiology and prevention through dissertation research. — Joanne E. Brady
  • The Award for Excellence in General Public Health is presented to a graduating student for outstanding academic achievement. — Mandy O’Hara
  • The Award for Excellence in Global Health is presented to one Master of Public Health student and one doctoral student who have demonstrated academic excellence and the potential for future contributions in global health. — Camilla Burkot, Siri Suh
  • The Regina Loewenstein Prize for Academic Excellence in Health Policy and Management is awarded to graduating students in the Department for highest academic achievement. — Lindsay A. Knable, Emily J. Sarokhan
  • The Foster G. McGaw Scholarship Award is given to students in the AUPHA member programs who have demonstrated academic excellence during their graduate studies. The scholarship was endowed by Forster G. McGaw, founder of the American Hospital Supply Corporation. In endowing this scholarship, Mr. McGaw recognized the importance of health administration education and AUPHA’s contribution to the field. — Naomi L. Kruger, Ruchit R. Kumbhani
  • The Population and Family Health Award for Academic Excellence is given to graduating students in the Department for outstanding academic achievement. — Jean Crooks
  • The Lynne Loomis-Price Humanitarian Award is given in memory of former Associate Director of Academic Programs Lynne Loomis-Price to a student who exemplifies Lynne’s spirit and commitment to humanitarian work, her dedication to the reduction of health disparities, and her actions in pursuit of social justice both domestically and internationally. — Bradley R. Didier
  • The Eugene Litwak Prize in Sociomedical Sciences is awarded to a doctoral student in the Department for excellence in the preparation of a dissertation research proposal. — Ronna Popkin
  • The Jack Elinson Award is given to a student in Sociomedical Sciences for published articles of outstanding merit. — Siri Suh
  • The Marisa de Castro Benton Dissertation Award in Sociomedical Sciences is given for a dissertation that makes an outstanding contribution to the sociomedical sciences and is worthy of special recognition. — Nora J. Kenworthy
  • The Sociomedical Sciences Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award is given annually by the Department for distinguished scholarship and research in the student’s master’s thesis. — Camilla Burkot, Grace Lee
  • The Center for Social Inequalities and Health Distinguished Dissertation Award is given by the Center for the Study of Social Inequalities and Health to students in Sociomedical Sciences and in Epidemiology for an outstanding dissertation addressing health inequalities. — Sahar Sadjadi, Nicole Stehling-Ariza
  • The Bernard Challenor Spirit Prize is awarded to a graduating student who has demonstrated a commitment to building community, across department boundaries, at the Mailman School of Public Health. — Gary Yu