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Health and Aging Expert Dr. Linda Fried Named Dean-Designate of Mailman School of Public Health; Dr. Fried Greets CUMC Community at Welcoming Event
Columbia University has named Linda Fried, MD, MPH, as the next dean of the Mailman School of Public Health. University President Lee C. Bollinger and Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences Lee Goldman, MD, MPH, made the announcement. The appointment of Dr. Fried, who will succeed long-time Mailman School Dean Dr. Allan Rosenfield, is effective May 2008.
An admired leader in aging and health, Linda Fried comes to Columbia from Johns Hopkins University, where she has spent the last 25 years, starting as a fellow in general internal medicine in 1982. She has been dedicated to expanding health promotion and prevention for older adults, with emphasis on the causes of frailty and disability. She is currently professor of medicine, epidemiology, health policy and nursing at Johns Hopkins and director of The Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health, the Program in the Epidemiology of Aging at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.
"Public health is an essential concern in our society, and in bridging so many disciplines, it is an endeavor that can create synergies in every corner of the University," said President Bollinger. "Allan Rosenfield has made Columbia and the Mailman School both a local and global force in this important field. With someone of Linda Fried's unique experience and accomplishments in public health and medicine as our new dean, Columbia will have an extraordinary leader who will build on this momentum in the years ahead."
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 the new dean-designate.
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."
Click Here to View Excerpts from the Welcoming Event for Dr. Fried
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