Release Date: March 1, 2022

Download the PDF

Welcome from the Dean

In 1996 our School was launching its first MPH cohort of just 24 students. In 1998, Jonathan Mann was named Dean of what was then the Allegheny University School of Public Health, which would become the Drexel School of Public Health in 2002 and subsequently the Dornsife School of Public Health in 2015.

One of the things that first struck me about our school is that it is a place with a strong sense of mission, which I believe is grounded in the school’s very foundation as a response to the health needs of our home, the City of Philadelphia. This sense of mission has infused the way in which the school community thinks about itself and goes well beyond what can be captured in an institutional mission statement.

Our school’s mission is driven by three key things: a commitment to Philadelphia, and through it, to cities all over the world; the belief that social justice lies at the root of improving health; and the firm conviction that we can and must use our skills to support effective practice and policy, recognizing that our science and training must have the goal of effecting change and creating a world that is healthier for all.

Over the past 10 years, our school has grown dramatically: its educational programs have expanded in size and number and the delivery modes and content have changed, adapting to a changing public health context. Our research has blossomed with external funding tripling over the past seven years, and we have emerged as a leader in public health research at Drexel University and across the region. The school’s partnerships and community engagement have evolved and grown, also adapting to new needs, new partners, and new members of our community. We have worked hard to support our growth and development and the change needed to address evolving public health needs while at the same time sustaining an enduring commitment to our foundational principles. This balance can be challenging to achieve, but our mission guides us and growth and change are fundamental to achieving our mission in an evolving world.

We begin our second 25 years as a school at a historical juncture: at what we hope may be the tail end of a pandemic (although it is not over yet), in the midst of a growing and increasingly inevitable climate crisis, with new threats of war and violence, and struggling to finally change the structures and systems that perpetuate racism and inequality as fundamental threats to our health. The pandemic has shown us that we can be resilient but has also highlighted all that we still need to do to promote public health and health equity in our city but also across the world. And recent global developments have reminded us of the ever-present threats of war, including nuclear war, to health and humanity.

As I reflect on the past 25 years, I wonder what our school will be like 25 years from now, what a future Dean will write when the school turns 50. Although 25 years is indeed not a very long time, there are many examples in our history when much has changed in just 25 years, especially in times of crisis. If I am optimistic (despite everything I usually am…stubbornly optimistic), I can still believe that so much could change for the better, if only we are able to use our intelligence, our compassion, and our humanity to make positive change happen. No doubt this change will be hard and there will be many setbacks, but our school and the many communities we belong to must be part of the change we need.

Ana V. Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH
Dean and Distinguished Professor, Epidemiology
Dornsife School of Public Health