At the College of Public Health, we are promoting health in human populations through innovative research, exemplary education, and engaged service dedicated to preventing disease and injury within the state and around the world. Founded in 2005, the College was awarded full accreditation in June 2009 and became one of only 41 accredited colleges of public health in the nation and the only accredited college of public health in the University System of Georgia.
The need for public health education in Georgia is great, the average age of public health workers in the state is near 50, and there are insufficient numbers of students in the pipeline to replace these workers as they enter retirement. As an accredited College of Public Health we are helping to ensure that a well-trained workforce will be available to protect our state and that ground breaking research can be conducted to prevent and better control the costs of issues such as high rates of premature death, infant mortality, infectious disease, heart disease and substance abuse.
The College is home to four academic departments, two institutes and one center: the Department of Environmental Health Science, the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the Department of Health Policy and Management, the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, the Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense, the Institute of Gerontology and the Center for Global Health. By bringing together many of UGA’s research, teaching and outreach programs in the areas of health and medicine, the College of Public Health allows UGA to better address the serious disease and health problems that affect populations around the state, country and world.
Through our Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.) and Master of Public Health (M.P.H) programs, we are fulfilling UGA’s mission as the state’s land-grant university to train future leaders responsible for the public health and well-being of Georgians. The Dr.P.H. is a professional degree designed to train leaders in public health with the comprehensive vision and philosophy needed to address a broad spectrum of public health needs, solutions, and programs.
To continue learning more about the growth and developments at the College of Public Health, we invite you to check our website for updates frequently.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Williams, Ph.D.
Dean