About Us

With a mandate to “study and [teach] the origins and cause of the human disease and the prevention thereof,” the DeLamar Institute of Public Health at Columbia University was founded in 1922. The precursor to today’s internationally respected Mailman School of Public Health, the Institute demonstrated from the beginning core values that have shaped the institution for almost ninety years.

Today, the Mailman School of Public Health is recognized as a thought leader addressing critical public health issues ranging from emerging infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment to urban health and health disparities, and from the impact of exposure to pollutants on children’s health to the implications and economic impact of health policy decisions. The Mailman School is committed to knowledge creation, the translation of science for impact, and the education of the next generation of public health leaders.

A Call to Arms

In 1909, the College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) of Columbia University issued an urgent call for a "new public health" that would integrate medical and social sciences with biostatistics and sanitary engineering. Thirteen years later, with a $3 million bequest from the estate of Joseph DeLamar, the DeLamar Institute of Public Health opened its doors as a unit of P&S. In 1945, the Institute became the Columbia University School of Public Health, while continuing to operate under the aegis of P&S.

The School’s deep connections to New York City developed early on, and in 1939 the City’s Department of Public Health and the Institute agreed to share a building on 168th Street. Committed to marrying health education with service delivery to the local community, the partnership laid the foundation for the School’s abiding interest in urban healthcare and population-based research.

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Public Health

The public health faculty blazed new trails from the start, reaching across divisions and programs to forge multidisciplinary solutions to critical problems. The School focused first on collaboration with educators and engineers to address health-related sanitation issues and then with social scientists to address socioeconomic-based public health challenges.

The latter partnership produced a landmark 1959 study conducted by Dr. Ray Trussell (director of the School from 1955 to 1968) and Dr. Jack Elinson (who later founded the School’s Division of Sociomedical Science). The study, which demonstrated much higher rates of chronic disease among a rural population in New Jersey than previously reported, pioneered both on-site health examinations and new techniques in sampling to collect valuable medical data.

The Mailman School continued to break new ground in multiple areas. It was the first institution to establish programs in sociomedical sciences and in psychiatric epidemiology training, the first to offer a joint degree in business and public health, and the first to provide graduate education in hospital administration.

The Modern Era

During the early 1980s, the School recognized the changing landscape of public health and adjusted its focus to meet those new challenges. HIV/AIDS treatment and containment, increased access to healthcare for all, and health issues affecting women and children became critical research priorities.

In addition, during this time, the School gained significant administrative independence that enabled it to expand more rapidly. By 1983 the School’s budget was separated from the Faculty of Medicine and, in 1992 the School became an independent financial entity within Columbia’s Health Sciences campus.

In 1999 the School received a transformational $33 million gift from the Joseph L. Mailman Foundation. Soon thereafter, the School was renamed to honor Joseph L. Mailman, a prominent businessman dedicated to issues of health and education. In 2000 the Mailman School became a Faculty of Public Health, one of the four Faculties in Columbia’s Faculty of Health Sciences. The School now supports itself via revenue from research activities, tuition, gifts, and its endowment.

The Mailman School's independence brought with it a period of rapid growth and accelerated achievement. Under the leadership of Dean Allan Rosenfield from 1986 to 2008, the School tripled its applicant pool, placed second among all of Columbia University’s schools in annual research revenue, and became the third-largest recipient of sponsored research and the fifth-largest recipient of NIH funding among all schools of public health. The influence of the School’s six academic departments and 20 research centers is felt far beyond their Washington Heights neighborhood; at present the Mailman School is engaged in health-related programs or projects in more than one hundred countries.

The Mailman School of Public Health’s main home is located in the 20-story Allan Rosenfield Building, named in tribute to Dean Rosenfield’s remarkable 22-year tenure. Tapping into the valuable synergies available within the Columbia community, the School now offers nine dual-degree programs with other Columbia schools and remains the only accredited School of Public Health in New York City.

A Strategic Vision for the 21st Century

In May 2008, Columbia University announced the appointment of Dr. Linda Fried as dean of the Mailman School. A national leader in the field of geriatric health and epidemiology, Dean Fried previously led Johns Hopkins' Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Program in Epidemiology of Aging.

From the outset, Dean Fried has engaged faculty, students, alumni, and key stakeholders to identify the role the Mailman School should play in addressing future public health challenges. The School will continue to focus on and excel in areas where it traditionally has had a pre-eminent voice, such as communicable diseases, mental health, and environmental health. New areas of growth will build on the School’s legacy of work in global and urban health, human rights, children’s health, and public health history. Dean Fried has also committed to leading the School forward into new frontiers, examining chronic disease prevention, climate and health, and the health of an aging society.

All of these initiatives require focus, multi-level analysis, and new health system models. The needs may appear overwhelming at times, but the Mailman School is dedicated to addressing today’s challenges and making a difference in the health and well-being of people around the globe.

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