The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health is the

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

school at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and is accredited by the

Council on Education for Public Health The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is an independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and public health programs offered in settings other than schools of public health. T ...

. In 2020, the institution was ranked the best

school and second best school overall in the '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranking of American schools of public health. Among schools of public health, the school receives the third most funding in NIH awards.

History

The UNC Division of Public Health was organized in 1936 within the UNC School of Medicine. Separate status as a school of public health was granted in 1940, making the school the first school of public health established within a state university. The school awarded its first graduate degrees in 1940. Milton Rosenau became the first director of the Division of Public Health in 1936 and served as the first dean of the School from 1939 to 1946. In 1949, both the UNC School of Dentistry and UNC School of Nursing were added. Along with the Schools of Public Health, Medicine and Pharmacy, the five schools formally became the University's Division of Health Affairs. It is named after donors Joan Gillings and

Dennis Gillings Sir Dennis Barry Gillings (born 25 April 1944) is an American-based British billionaire statistician and entrepreneur, the founder and former chairman of Quintiles Transnational, a clinical research company, headquartered in Durham, North Caro ...

, a former UNC professor and the founder of

IQVIA IQVIA, formerly Quintiles and IMS Health, Inc., is an American multinational company serving the combined industries of health information technology and clinical research. IQVIA is a provider of biopharmaceutical development and commercial outs ...

. In 2020, the school focused its resources on combating the spread of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

global pandemic, with various research teams tackling a broad range of topics including vaccines, testing, epidemiology, biostatistics, health policy and more.

Academics

In 2018, the Gillings School launched its online Master of Public Health program.

Notable faculty

* Mandy Cohen, physician and health official * Clarence Lushbaugh, physician and pathologist * William L. Roper, dean emeritus, 12th Director of the CDC

Alumni

* Lisa Bodnar (M.P.H. 1999), Vice-Chair for Research,

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

* Julie Story Byerley (M.P.H. 1998), Vice Dean for Education, UNC School of Medicine * Garry Conille (M.P.H. 1999), 15th

Prime Minister of Haiti The prime minister of Haiti (French: , ht, Premye Minis Ayiti) is the head of government of Haiti. The office was created under the 1987 Constitution; previously, all executive power was held by the president or head of state, who appointed and ...

* Renee M. Johnson (M.P.H. 1998, Ph.D. 2004), researcher and academic,

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. As the second independent, degree-granting institution for research in epi ...

* Jonathan J. Juliano (M.P.H.1997), researcher and academic, UNC School of Medicine *

Jerry M. Linenger Jerry Michael Linenger (born January 16, 1955) is a retired Captain in the United States Navy Medical Corps, and a former NASA astronaut who flew on the Space Shuttle and Space Station Mir. Background Born January 16, 1955, and raised in Eas ...

(M.P.H. 1989, Ph.D. 1989), former Captain in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, and former

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

astronaut * Heather Munroe-Blum (Ph.D.), former Principal and

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

Vann R. Newkirk II Vann R. Newkirk II (born December 27, 1988) is an American journalist and staff writer for ''The Atlantic'' who writes on politics, the environment, Race (human categorization), race, and healthcare policy. Early life Vann Newkirk grew up in Rock ...

(M.Sc. 2012), staff writer, ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' *

Rob Wittman Robert Joseph Wittman (born February 3, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. The district stretches from the fringes of the Washington suburbs to the Hampton Roads area. He is a member of the Republi ...

(M.P.H. 1990), U.S. Representative for

Virginia's 1st congressional district Virginia's first congressional district is a United States congressional district in the commonwealth of Virginia. It is a district split between a suburban north and rural south. Virginian politicians now sometimes refer to it as "America's ...

References

External links