2025: A Look Back at Our Accomplishments
Ready for What’s Next? We Are.
The Rutgers School of Public Health is thrilled to share its 2025-2030 Strategic Plan.
The school engaged students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners to develop the five-year “living” roadmap, which aims to deepen our commitment to our mission and expand our capacity to realize our vision.
Ranking Among the Best in the Country: Rutgers School of Public Health Shines in Top 20
The Rutgers School of Public Health has been ranked No. 16 among the 2025 Best Graduate Schools in Public Health by U.S. News & World Report.
Designed for prospective students looking to further their education beyond college, the Best Graduate Schools rankings evaluate programs in a variety of disciplines, including business, education, engineering, law, medicine, and public health
Advancing Research & Impact
41 Awards Totaling Over $26.85M
Our faculty, staff, and students secured 41 awards totaling over $26.85 million in externally sponsored funding from a variety of federal, state, and private foundation and corporate sponsors.
Supporting Student & Alumni Engagement
The Office of Student Experiences, Public Health Practice, and Alumni Affairs (SEAA) strengthened student life, academic success, career readiness, wellness, and practice opportunities across the school.
Student Life
SEAA hosted more than 150 student programs and launched the first Student Showcase and End-of-Year Awards Ceremony, celebrating student leaders, graduates, and the faculty and staff who support them.
Academics
SEAA’s academic support counselors held nearly 750 advising appointments and introduced the inaugural Springing into Action summit, offering workshops focused on academic and professional wellness.
Career Services & Alumni Affairs
The Office for Career Services supported students through 150+ advising appointments and 50+ events. Alumni April celebrated its fifth year with 12 virtual panels featuring 30+ alumni and more than 200 participants, centering on wellness and well-being across public health careers.
Wellness
SEAA trained its first cohort of 18 Wellness PHirst Ambassadors and completed its third cycle of the Wellness PHirst rewards program. More than 500 students earned 3,529 Wellness Wins, representing over 1,700 wellness touchpoints across the community.
Practice
The Practice Experience team supported 166 students in presenting their Practicum Capstone projects. Students collectively completed more than 25,000 Applied Practice Experience hours during the academic year.
Uplifting Public Health & Public Presence
In 2025, our faculty, staff, and students amplified Rutgers School of Public Health’s presence in the public sphere, contributing to over 500 news articles, stories, and features across local, national, and international media. Their expertise informed coverage of groundbreaking research, emerging public health policies, and evolving social and systemic health issues, strengthening the school’s impact on public health discourse worldwide.
Growing Our Faculty and Staff
This year, we strengthened our community by welcoming eight new faculty and six new staff, celebrating key promotions, and appointing new leadership—including a Vice Dean, an endowed chair, and launching a national search that will further expand our academic impact.
8 New Faculty and 6 New Staff
We welcomed eight full-time faculty and six full-time staff.
New Vice Dean and Chair
Deanna Kerrigan assumed the role of Vice Dean and Henry J. Rutgers Chair of Whole Person Health, and Tamara Taggart joined as the inaugural Perry N. Halkitis Endowed Chair for Advancing LGBTQ+ Public Health.
Promotions and Searches
We celebrated well-deserved promotions and awards, as well as launching a national search for our next Chair of the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy, which continues to strengthen our leadership and impact.
Celebrating Milestones in Education
Employment Rates:
- 100% of our doctoral students are employed
- 98% of master’s graduates whose employment status we know are employed or continuing their education
New Degree Option in Sustainability and Health: The Master of Science (MS) in Sustainability and Health prepares graduates to think critically and systemically about the interconnections and interdependencies between human health and well-being and the health of our planet.
New Online Certificate Options:
- Suicide Prevention, Practice and Policy (12 credits): The certificate, offered in collaboration with the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP), focuses on clinical, organizational, workplace, public health, and policy approaches to suicide prevention.
- Sustainability, Health, and Healthcare (12 credits): The certificate trains scholars, professionals, advocates, and community leaders to address the complex challenges of sustainability as they relate to health, healthcare, and health systems.
Global Collaborations
- Our Health Inequities in Latin American Communities course, in partnership with our Colombian colleagues, provided students with a summer to remember in Manizales, Colombia. Learn more about the study abroad experience here.
- In 2026, we’ll be stamping our passports to travel to London, UK, for the Public Health Aspects of HIV Prevention and Care course, and Greece for the Food and the Mediterranean Culture course.
Dean’s Leadership Council Members Inducted into Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni
Rutgers School of Public Health Dean’s Leadership Council members, Gloria A. Bachmann NCAS’70, RWJMS’72 and James F. Dougherty RC’74, GSNB’75, are part of the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni Class of 2026. The incoming class was selected by the Rutgers University Alumni Association (RUAA) Board of Directors.
Recognizing Standout Faculty & Staff
This is not an exhaustive list of awardees and honorees.
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Rutgers School of Public Health faculty, Pamela Ohman Strickland and Stephanie Shiau, were among the 2024-2025 University Year-End Excellence Awards Recipients. Pamela Ohman Strickland, associate professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, received the Warren I. Susman Award for Excellence in Teaching, recognizing her outstanding service in stimulating and guiding the intellectual development of students at Rutgers University. Stephanie Shiau, assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, received the Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence for making outstanding contributions to teaching during her early years at Rutgers.
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- Four distinguished members of the Rutgers School of Public Health community have been recognized with 2025 Rutgers Health Chancellor Awards for their outstanding contributions. These awards honor exceptional achievement in research, education, mentorship, service, and lifetime contributions.
- Emily Barrett, George G. Rhoads Legacy Professor and vice chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, earned the Distinguished Mentor Award for her exceptional commitment to mentoring postdoctoral and clinical fellows, junior faculty, staff, and students across all academic levels, fostering a culture of growth and development within Rutgers.
- Mary Hrywna, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy and a founding member of the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies, received the Excellence in Clinical or Health Sciences Research Award in recognition of her leadership as a mid-career investigator and advancing clinical and health sciences research at Rutgers Health.
- The Excellence in Clinical or Health Sciences Research Award has also been awarded to Greta Bushnell, assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology and a member of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care and Aging Research, for her significant contributions as an early-career investigator to impactful clinical and health sciences research at Rutgers Health.
- Recognized with the Excellence in Education and Teaching Award, Joye Anestis, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to empowering students through innovative teaching, training, and the advancement of education at Rutgers Health.
- Four distinguished members of the Rutgers School of Public Health community have been recognized with 2025 Rutgers Health Chancellor Awards for their outstanding contributions. These awards honor exceptional achievement in research, education, mentorship, service, and lifetime contributions.
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- Three faculty members from the Rutgers School of Public Health will be honored at the New Jersey Public Health Association’s (NJPHA) Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony on October 16, 2025. These distinguished awards celebrate exceptional leadership, service, advocacy, research, and collaboration, all of which strengthen and advance public health across New Jersey.
- Mitchel Rosen, associate professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health and director of the Center for Public Health Workforce Development at the Rutgers School of Public Health, received the Dennis J. Sullivan Award – NJPHA’s highest honor.
- Slawa Rokicki, assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, has been selected to receive the Lloyd M. Femly Award, which is given to an individual for outstanding contribution in the media to the cause of public health in New Jersey.
- Recognized with the Ezra Muncy Hunt Award, Mary Hrywna, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, has been selected for outstanding service and leadership to the cause of public health.
- Three faculty members from the Rutgers School of Public Health will be honored at the New Jersey Public Health Association’s (NJPHA) Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony on October 16, 2025. These distinguished awards celebrate exceptional leadership, service, advocacy, research, and collaboration, all of which strengthen and advance public health across New Jersey.
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Laura Lindberg, professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health, received the 2025 Mentor Award from the Society of Family Planning. This national honor recognized her exceptional commitment to guiding and advancing the careers of emerging clinicians and scholars in the field of family planning.
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Katie Zapert, assistant dean for research, received the 2025 Rutgers Gateway Award (Service to Employees). The accolade recognizes Rutgers employees whose contributions enhance workplace culture, remove barriers, and strengthen collaboration across the university.