• Columbia University Names Dr. Linda Fried as Dean-Designate of the Mailman School


• Bio for Linda Fried, MD, MPH


• Past and Present Deans of the Mailman School
  


• Click Here to View Excerpts from the Welcoming Event for Dr. Fried
  
  

Dean-Designate Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, Addresses CUMC
Community at Welcoming Event

On January 22, Mailman School faculty, staff, students, and alumni were joined by leadership from Columbia University and the Columbia University Medical Center in a packed P&S; Alumni Auditorium to greet dean-designate, Linda Fried, MD, MPH, Mason F. Lord Professor of Geriatric Medicine and professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, Health Policy, and Nursing at Johns Hopkins University, who will assume her new role as the Mailman School’s tenth dean in May 2008.

Lee Goldman, MD, MPH, executive vice president for Health and Biomedical Sciences at Columbia University Medical Center, hosted the event and was joined on stage by Alan Brinkley, PhD, Columbia University Provost and Allan Nevins Professor of History, and Allan Rosenfield, MD, DeLamar Professor and dean of the Mailman School, and professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

As part of his introduction, Dr. Goldman invoked the gathering’s intent: “to hear about, hear from, and meet the next dean of our Mailman School of Public Health.” After touching on a few of the University’s successes and historical high-points in global and local public health, he read a warm statement of welcome from Columbia University President Lee Bollinger.

The program included remarks by Dr. Brinkley and Dr. Goldman, who both recognized Allan Rosenfield for his outstanding leadership of the School for 22 years. Dr. Rosenfield thanked the assembled for their outstanding work and expressed his delight in welcoming Dr. Fried to the School. “We are exceptionally fortunate that Dr. Fried will be our next dean,” said Dr. Rosenfield. “We have accomplished so much over the last two decades and I am confident that, under Linda’s able leadership, the School will go on to even greater heights in the years ahead.”

Dr. Goldman welcomed Dr. Fried to the podium to greet the Mailman School community. Visibly moved by the day’s program, Dr. Fried thanked President Bollinger, Provost Brinkley, Dr. Goldman, and gave special thanks to Phyllis Mailman and her family for “their enthusiasm and warmth in greeting me as the new dean.” She also gave special thanks to Dr. Rosenfield, “who has been so welcoming and has offered both counsel and support to make sure that this transition is great for the future of this school and all in it.”

Dr. Fried began by telling the audience why, after a 25-year career at Johns Hopkins, she decided to uproot herself from Baltimore to return to her hometown, New York City.

“Coming to Columbia is coming home, because I grew up here. But the School’s values and mission are a match for me personally, and is clearly evident in the embracing of your location in New York City as an opportunity to plunge into every aspect of urban public health. I too have developed and led collaborative programs with, and for, the city of Baltimore for many years, and I look forward to supporting our common goals of urban health, doing this in my first hometown.”

She continued by enumerating the many reasons why she was attracted to the Mailman School, citing its overarching commitment to the principles of social justice and promotion of health as a fundamental human right; the School’s multidisciplinary approaches to public health education and addressing public health challenges; and its unequivocal commitment to groundbreaking, scientifically rigorous, and ethical research. She also noted the School’s unwavering sense of bravery and willingness to pursue research and service programs that address controversial or socially unpopular ideas, and its dedication to improve public health through the formation of creative and equal partnerships with community organizations and community-based service providers, in New York and around the world.

“Mailman School faculty, students and staff have a deep, longstanding commitment to addressing the needs of underserved and underrepresented populations around the corner and the globe,” said Dr. Fried. “I am impressed, and moved.”

Looking forward, Dr. Fried discussed what she feels are a few of the profoundly serious public health issues looming on the horizon. Ranging from the traditional to newer components of public health, she spoke about defining the opportunities for prevention and health promotion across the full life course, including the needs of an aging society; understanding and helping to resolve social inequities and associated disparities in health; developing systems of care based on evidence that will be an integrated continuum across clinics, communities, and society; defining 21st century public health education, communication and leadership skills and ensuring that the public health workforce that is adequate in numbers and positioned to lead and serve.

“Most of all,” said Dr. Fried, “I look forward to working in partnership both within Columbia University and with our wonderful partners here and throughout the world to accomplish these critically important goals, and to ensure effective education and advocacy for change.”

In closing, Dr. Fried stated, “Overall, the compelling reason why I chose to come to Columbia is the sum of all the above.” She continued, “We have great things ahead of us. The Mailman School is young as an independent school, but has an illustrious history of 90 years. It is an outstanding school with a unique vision, culture, service, and excellence. Each of those was integral to my decision to join a community of visionaries, scholars, and change agents, and to lead this great School into the future.”

About the Mailman School of Public Health
The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 950 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students and more than 300 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences. www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu