Our Next Chapter
Dear Columbia Mailman community,
I write today to let you know that I plan to conclude my service as dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health on June 30, 2025. Since my appointment in 2008, it has been a profound honor to lead this remarkable institution and to help advance our shared mission to help build a healthy and just world. Columbia Mailman is stronger than ever due to all your contributions, and I believe now is the right time for a transition to the next generation of leadership.
I have been incredibly fortunate to serve a role in our School’s storied legacy. For more than a century, Columbia Mailman has educated public health leaders, conducted groundbreaking science, and developed innovative solutions to protect and improve population health. Our faculty, staff, and students have thrived even in the toughest of times, including, notably, the COVID-19 pandemic, during which this institution provided critical leadership and service to protect our Columbia community, and communities locally, nationally, and globally. Today, Columbia Mailman continues to evolve to take on the most pressing public health challenges facing our world, including health inequities, the climate crisis, the need for healthy longevity, emerging infectious diseases, violence, and much more.
We have accomplished so much together, but our ambitious community knows there is more to be done. This year alone, we will launch five interdisciplinary research centers and the Community Health Equity Collaborative, which aims to strengthen our partnerships in Northern Manhattan and across our beloved city. Our interdisciplinary MPH Core Curriculum has become the accreditation standard nationally, and we will continue to build the future of education through expanded doctoral education, pathway programs, and lifelong learning initiatives.
Our students are at the heart of our commitment to the future of public health, and I have cherished the opportunity to be part of their professional journeys. While we equip the next generation of leaders with the expertise and skills needed for their careers, we, in turn, learn so much from their passion and perspectives on our field and the world. I am grateful for the continued engagement of our alumni, and I marvel at the meaningful change you are making around the world.
I have treasured my collaborations with Columbia Mailman’s exemplary faculty and staff. Our superbly talented staff support our administration, research, education, and operations with excellence and integrity. Our world-class faculty’s productivity and innovation have propelled our research agenda to greater heights and impact. Over the last decade, our NIH funding has doubled and today we are the third-largest recipient of NIH Prime Awards among peer schools.
Under our chairs’ outstanding leadership, our departments have risen significantly in capabilities and stature. During my tenure, we have together recruited more than 130 exceptional faculty who are building the knowledge needed for the future of public health.
While it is bittersweet to leave my role, I am excited to see which new directions the School will take. I look forward to collaborating with all of you as a faculty member and director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center. Interim President Armstrong will be in touch with our community soon about planning for future leadership.
For now, I would like to express my deep appreciation of my colleagues at Columbia Mailman and across the University, whose support, dedication, and friendship have sustained and inspired me.
With gratitude,
Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH (she/her)
Dean and DeLamar Professor of Public Health
Mailman School of Public Health
Director, Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center
Senior Vice President, Columbia University Medical Center
Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine