In Our Words

Voices of Columbia Mailman School

Time spent in our classrooms and among our community is life-changing. To learn the secret to the School’s ability to shape attitudes and careers in transformative ways, we asked faculty, students, and staff members past and present to share their standout stories about the Columbia Mailman School experience.

“When I began my career here 18 years ago, public health was almost unknown to the world at large. How things have changed! I work with some of the greatest minds in public health, and when reporters call, I'm proud to hear them say their stories wouldn’t be complete without the words and wisdom of our professors.”
Stephanie Berger
Director of Media Relations

“There is so much we know about public health and so much still to discover. It is a privilege to work and learn alongside faculty and students who are equally committed to shaping policy and practices to make the world a safer, healthier, more equitable, and more sustainable place.”
Chelsea Clinton, MPH ’10, MPhil, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management
Member of the Columbia Mailman School Board of Advisors
Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation

“When I came uptown, I never looked back. People here are dedicated to working on important problems.”
Bruce Levin, PhD
Professor of Biostatistics

“The broad and deep training I received at Mailman, in addition to lifelong friendships and connections I made there, formed the backbone of my career successes. Our school is 100 years old, and has never been more relevant.”
Thomas Campbell Jackson, MPH ’98
Venture Partner at the Easton Capital Investment Group
Member of the Columbia Mailman School Board of Advisors

“Being a Black student, I wanted to make sure my voice was heard and that the voices of the other students who looked like me were heard as well. I joined the Graduate Student Association Officer Team. I was career and alumni chair, and we had career events that were cosponsored by our Black and Latinx Student Caucus; we had a panel of BIPOC alumni giving advice targeted to students who have those identities. You really felt there was a network within the Mailman community, that we had people to turn to about professional opportunities and personal questions as well.”
Ibrahim (Bryan) Konaté, MPH ’20
Clinical Research Coordinator at a New York City Hospital System

“I love hearing the faculty talk about why an applicant is a fit for a department. The excitement they have is infectious!”
Julie Davenport
Associate Director of Admissions

“We’re only as healthy as the least healthy member of our overall community. That’s where ethics comes into public health, where education comes into public health, and thinking about the allocation of resources. Mailman does these and many other things well.”
Robert Harvey, MPH ’07
Member of the Columbia Mailman School Board of Advisors

“Mailman’s Executive MPH Program expanded my horizons. The program was intense—intense. There was one professor who said, ‘You always have to think of the denominator.’ Meaning, when people start quoting things like ‘40 people did this’ he’d say, ‘Forty people out of 100? Forty people out of 4 million? What’s the denominator?’ That has stayed with me.”
Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH ’96
Pioneering Obstetrician/Gynecologist
Author of The Ditchdigger’s Daughters

“Each year, students astound me more and more with what they’ve done and what they want to do. They’re just amazing, these students. It’s been a joy to teach them and to learn from them.”
Linda Cushman, PhD
Former Associate Dean of Field Practice
Professor Emeritus (faculty member since 1985)

“Going to the School was a transitional experience for me. I never went back to clinical pediatrics. Instead of making patients healthier one by one, I decided to make whole populations healthier. Public health is at the crossroads of politics and medicine, and it’s about making small, creative changes that make the world a better place. If there are two things that shaped my life, I would say number one is my marriage to my wife and the other one was the School of Public Health and my choice of public health as a career.”
David Harris, MD, MPH ’65
Former Vice President of Medical Affairs for the Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Longtime Health Commissioner (New York City and Suffolk County, Long Island)
Senior Advisor on the Columbia Mailman School Board of Advisors

“Going back to school was daunting. I have a full-time job; I am a full-time mother to a second grader; and I hadn’t been in school for almost 27 years. It ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve made. The professors are simply incredible—so passionate it’s catching. The quality of education: top-notch. My classmates became lifelong friends. I am 100 percent better equipped to excel in my role, and my Health Policy and Management degree opened opportunities I had not imagined. I take a whole different view about my future as a result of my experience and I have Mailman to thank!”
Betty Chia-Wen Chang, MD, Executive MPH/MHA ’21
Medical Director of the Adult Emergency Department at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

“It’s an extraordinarily friendly place. In recruiting faculty, I had two criteria. Sure, you have to be smart and at the top of your field. But you also have to be nice.”
Joseph Graziano, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

“I was able to combine my fourth year of medical school with my MPH. It’s a powerful combination. I like to say that the definition of an epidemiologist is someone who loses sleep over denominators. The clinician may be tempted to look at just the person coming in, whereas we’re thinking of the entire population.”
Tom Frieden, MD/MPH ’86
President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies
Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

“With classmates from my Social and Economic Determinants of Health course, I helped launch CIPHER (Citizen’s Public Health Literacy) at the start of the pandemic. We created a public health curriculum, reviewed literature, constructed a website and social media channels, evaluated our program, and built relationships with the Northern Manhattan community. It was a direct response to misinformation around COVID-19, and the inequities that the virus highlighted.”
Te Asia Hunter, MPH ’21
Project coordinator at the American Medical Association Center for Health Equity

“When Mailman students see a problem, they also see a solution, and act upon it.”
Joanne Michelle Ocampo
Current DrPH Student

“Our students’ creativity and drive is an unparalleled generator of exciting science. Their enthusiasm, together with their commitment to public health and service to society, is what makes working at the School one of the best jobs one can dream of.”
Ana Navas-Acien, MD, MPH, PhD
Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

“The reputation of academia is that it is detached and from 30,000 feet. But the policy analysis skills I learned at the School are applicable to almost every issue I cover. My education at the School was rooted in the real experience of people and communities in New York and around the world who live their lives downstream of corporate and political decisions that affect public health, and in how elected officials, community members, and journalists can work for the most just and healthy policy choices.”
Brian Lehrer, MPH ’96
Award-winning broadcaster and host of The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC

“I co-founded a nonprofit called CovidWears that sells loungewear and donates 100 percent of profits to COVID-19 efforts. In six months, our organization raised $25,000 to help hospitals in the Mount Sinai system procure beds, ventilators, antibody tests, and personal protective equipment. My time at Mailman provided me with the skill set and confidence to create and lead this initiative, and I couldn’t be more grateful!”
Ipsita Praharaj, MHA ’21
Healthcare Consultant and Co-Founder of CovidWears

“I was given the opportunity to create the first course I taught here, in 1988, and I designed a course on the ethics of public health that examined public health campaigns and how we got people to change. There were no such courses in the United States then. It was wonderful to have the freedom to develop this new material. It was exciting.”
Ron Bayer, PhD
Professor of Sociomedical Sciences
Co-Director of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health

“Being at the School during 9/11 was a formative experience for me. To have a health disaster right in our own backyard was a lesson in real time about the importance not only of emergency response but also of the psychosocial side of recovery. The people who recovered best had a strong community. I carried that into my work—in addition to supporting local communities to find their own clinical health solutions, I have focused on the importance of psychosocial support. We’re going through a mass casualty event right now with the pandemic, and I’ve been applying my lessons to help communities cope and recover.”
Cora Neumann, MPH ’03, DPhil
Founder of Global First Ladies Alliance and We Are Montana
Member of Columbia Mailman School Board of Advisors

“The unique relationships with communities in New York City is another plus. It allows for true communication between scientists and the real world, with a more meaningful impact.”
Markus Hilpert, PhD
Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

“I’ve never felt like I was at a job because I was surrounded by people who were doing meaningful things. You felt like you were a family, and that’s hard to find. I’ve always felt proud of my work here. Always.”
Yolanda Roman
Administrative Director of Human Resources and Payroll and 30-year member of the School’s staff

“There is this philosophy of doing something for the greater good in terms of public health, and because we have such a rich and diverse community within New York City, within Washington Heights, within the broader global community, that setting for our education really does give people more perspective in terms of the impact of our work.”
Katherine Crew, MD ’99, MS ’05
Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center

“Teaching Integration of Science and Practice was the highlight of my week, though with nervousness at times. Although they’re students, they’re also brilliant individuals who were soon to be my colleagues. I was trying to keep up with them as they were with me. You walk into that room with an idea of a conversation you want to have, and you leave there having learned something about yourself, about the students, and about the issue.”
Marlyn Delva, EdD
Former Associate Dean of Education and Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Columbia Mailman School
Current Dean of Students at the School of General Studies

“No solid news story is ever about a single incident. My education here taught me how to look at every story through a public health lens. Covering a car crash? What can that tragedy teach us about seatbelt or alcohol use? Learning to do that changed the course of my career and it also changed the trajectory of my life. It would not have happened without my education at Mailman.”
Perri Peltz, MPH ’84
Current DrPH student,
Member of the Columbia Mailman School Board of Advisors
Award-winning journalist

“I wasn’t surprised when students from Mailman greeted my 2014 appointment as New York City health commissioner with a package of smart ideas for expanded or new programming. The dean has always made clear that academic public health should be tied to public health practice.”
Mary T. Bassett, MD ’79, MPH
New York State Department of Health Commissioner
Former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Former Member of the Columbia Mailman School Board of Advisors

“I have so much admiration for my professors, not only for their wisdom but also for the time and effort they spend to make students feel supported. Dr. Wan Yang taught my Infectious Disease Modeling course so well, working tirelessly during the pandemic. Dr. Marita Murrman made me think in ways I never had before. Dr. Yongmei Huang prepared us for careers as advanced statisticians. And my thesis advisor, Dr. Angela Aidala, has continued to aid me in my line of work past graduation. The professors really are the heart of the school.”
Anna Huang, MPH ’21
Equality Improvement Manager at the American Heart Association

“The Mailman culture is one of changing the world. You look around and know that the people next to you are dedicating their lives to building a better world for everyone.”
Kidd Duhe Solomon, MPH ’21
Senior Project Manager for Life Sciences and Healthcare Initiatives at the New York City Economic Development Corporation

Ruthie Fierberg, a Barnard College alumna, is the former executive editor of Playbill and the creator and host of the podcast Why We Theater, which explores theatre and social justice.