Type | Public |
---|---|
Established | 1943 |
Affiliation | University of California, Berkeley |
Dean | Stefano Bertozzi |
Students | 410 |
Location | Berkeley, California, U.S. |
Website | www |
The University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, commonly called the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. The School of Public Health is consistently rated among the best in the nation, with recent rankings placing its doctoral programs in Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences 1st, its doctoral program in Health Policy 2nd, and its Master of Public Health program 8th in their respective categories. Established in 1943, it was the first school of public health west of the Mississippi River. The school is currently accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.
The School of Public Health has its origins in the Department of Hygiene, which pioneered much of California's start of the 20th century public health endeavors. It was Karl F. Meyer, however, whose compelling 1930s Public Health curriculum demonstrated a pressing need for a school devoted to the study and practice of public health. Local professional leaders, including Lawrence Arnstein, Ford Rigby, and William Sheppard, used the momentum set in motion by this curriculum to successfully appeal the California State Legislature to create such a school. The result was AB515, signed into law by Governor Earl Warren in 1943, which appropriated funds for a school of public health at the University of California. Shortly thereafter, in 1944, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health held its first commencement. It was accredited by the American Public Health Association two years later, becoming the only accredited school of public health west of the Mississippi River.
In 1955, the school was relocated to be closer to the state health department; Earl Warren Hall was dedicated by Clark Kerr as the new home of the School of Public Health. The baccalaureate degree program continued, but the school began to devote much of its resources to graduate training. At this point, graduate enrollment hovered near 100 students. It soon trebled to 335 students in the mid-1960s, with an annual conferment of around 150 degrees.