Honoring and Extending Dean Fried’s Legacy of Leadership

Dina Dublon, chair of the Columbia Mailman School Board of Advisors, announced three new funds honoring the leadership of Dean Linda P. Fried, who is ending her 17-year tenure as dean this summer. The announcement was made at a celebratory dinner for Dean Fried sponsored by a generous anonymous donor.

The Linda P. Fried Scholarship Fund—the first endowed scholarship fund in the history of the Columbia Mailman School—will support six full-tuition student scholarships in perpetuity. Secondly, the Tow Foundation has pledged to establish an endowed chair in Dean Fried’s name to be filled by a leading scientist. Thirdly, a Research Response Fund to support faculty impacted by federal grant terminations has raised more than $1 million to date in honor of Dean Fried. “We here in the room and others who could not join us wanted to honor [Dean Fried’s] leadership by making gifts that solidify her Columbia Mailman legacy in perpetuity,” Dublon said.

The event’s emcee, Robert Fullilove, Associate Dean for Community and Minority Affairs and associate professor in Sociomedical Sciences, told the audience of faculty, board members, and supporters that all the gift announcements reinforced his belief that Dean Fried herself is “the gift that has made this institution great.”

Columbia University Acting President Claire Shipman remarked on Dean Fried’s numerous accomplishments, from an overhaul of the School’s curriculum to leading research programs in climate change, mental health, forced migration, food insecurity, longevity, and opioid addiction. Shipman also highlighted community partnerships forged and leadership demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are grateful for your vision, your compassion, your tenacity, and your leadership,” she said.

Adding to Shipman’s list of accomplishments, John Rowe, professor in Health Policy and Management and a member of the Board of Advisors, pointed to Dean Fried’s recruitment of world-class faculty, an expanded student body, and more than threefold growth in the School’s endowment. Rowe recounted how he served on the search committee that recruited Dean Fried in 2008. “Linda came to us with a vision,” Rowe recalled. “She understood deeply the then-current challenges and opportunities for public health and articulated an ambitious agenda in education, research, policy, and community service that would bring Mailman to the next level—to go from very good to great, which is where we are today.”

Expressing her thanks, Dean Fried said she was grateful to have “a group of people who you travel with over the years, who you share the past with, and who you build the present and the future with,” adding, “We’ve accomplished collective dreams and collective visions, and we’ve demonstrated that this is possible.” She concluded with a paean to the power of public health, which, despite disinvestments, is still responsible for as much as 70 percent of any population’s health. She also emphasized the importance of education as the foundation for a just society, stating, “Our mission and roles matter more than ever for our future and for our democracy.”