Alumni Summit Forges Connections

The 2024 Columbia Mailman Alumni Summit spotlighted the power of public health education and leadership and its potential to make a difference by addressing priorities like health equity. The event also foregrounded opportunities for alumni to maintain mutually beneficial bonds with the School and its students, and take advantage of learning opportunities.

More than 120 alumni—including recent graduates and high-level leaders in their field—joined with faculty and students at the Allan Rosenfield Building on September 27 for the first in-person Alumni Summit since 2019. Alumni around the world also tuned in online. (Watch a video of the Alumni Summit below.)

Welcoming alumni, Dean Linda P. Fried said she was proud of their many accomplishments, as they advance the field, improve health outcomes, and mentor the next generation of public health leaders. “Our alumni are tackling the biggest public health challenges of the present and setting the stage for the future,” she said.

Many alumni stay connected with the School by offering MPH students on-the-job learning opportunities at their organizations through the School’s APEx (Applied Practicum Experience) program. In a panel discussion about APEx moderated by Dean Fried, Madeleine Ripple, MPH ’23, shared her path from a summer APEx assignment at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s Lang Youth Medical Program into a full-time job, where among other responsibilities, she oversees new cohorts of APEx students. Nicole Bayne, MPH ’21, said her APEx at Word of Life, a South Bronx community outreach organization, gave her project management skills she uses in her current job at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Increasingly, public health education is a lifelong endeavor. Alumni like Kathleen Crowley, DrPH ’13, MPH ’91, vice president of environmental health and safety at Columbia University, get one degree, jump back into their careers, and then return for more advanced or specialized skills and credentials. “You don’t know how much you don’t know until you go back and learn more,” Crowley said in a panel discussion on lifelong learning. Moderator Michael Joseph, Columbia Mailman Vice Dean for Education, solicited alumni views on lifelong learning; several panelists endorsed opportunities to learn a specific skill set. 

In a panel on leadership moderated by Margaret Crotty, MPH ’16, president and CEO of JSI, alumni shared wisdom gleaned over their careers. Benjamin Chu, MD, MPH ’89, a clinician, administrator, and policy advocate, said he gained the trust of staff by gaining a hands-on understanding of how they do their job. “Learn by observing,” said Chu, who also urged attendees to take chances when opportunities to lead present themselves, however daunting. Brian Castrucci, DrPH, MA ’06, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, assured students and younger alumni that public health careers often take many twists and turns. “The path will show itself over time,” Castruccisaid. “There is no perfect way.”

In recent years, the public health field has recommitted itself to health equity. Emme Deland, MPH ’81, an advisor for NewYork-Presbyterian and Dalio Center for Health Justice, moderated a panel discussion. Katherine LaGuardia, MD, MPH ’87, a special advisor for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said health equity gains required “exercising activism,” adding, “When you see something wrong, do something about it.” Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH ’06, chief health equity officer at the American Medical Association, said incremental gains are always possible, saying, “You have to sprint at moments…When those doors open, you have to push.”

Earlier in the day, Dean Fried presented Kathleen Crowley, and Gail Emrick, MPH ’87, MIA, with 2024 Allan Rosenfield Distinguished Alumni Awards. Sun-Ming Jessica Pan, MPH ’19, and Shabaz Salehi, MD, MPH ’15, MSHIA, received 2024 Outstanding Recent Alumni Awards.

Following a luncheon, alumni attended departmental open houses, giving them the opportunity to meet students and faculty and mingle with grads from their department. They also got the chance to speak with second-year master’s students whose posters highlighted work they did during their summer APEx internships.

The Alumni Summit dovetailed with the university-wide Columbia Alumni Leaders Experience, and several Columbia Mailman alumni attended both events.

“Leadership isn’t a title, it’s a mindset,” said Alumni Board President Kyle R. MacDonald, MD, MPH’19, CPH, in summary. “We are all leaders here today if we have the courage to step up.”