History | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health

In this section

The MPH degree at the Bloomberg School has helped shape MPH programs everywhere. Our MPH alumni include ministers of health, directors of the WHO and CDC, and founding deans of schools of public health. This timeline recounts our century of leadership on the front lines of public health.

1920

JHSPH begins offering a one-year certificate in public health (CPH) for MDs and bachelor’s degree holders in “the physical or medical sciences.”

1935

Passage of the Social Security Act establishes federal assistance for public health training, which doubles CPH enrollment.

1939

CPH is renamed Master of Public Health (MPH) to emphasize academic quality and for consistency across universities.

1941

World War II spurs growth of MPH programs, providing leaders for the military and new organizations such as the CDC and WHO.

1946

The APHA begins accrediting MPH programs, based on the standard curriculum created with the School.

1946

PHS officer Reginald G. James, MPH ’46, becomes the first African American to graduate from JHSPH, Johns Hopkins University, and any historically white southern university.

1951

JHSPH, Harvard, and University of California admit U.S. Air Force officers who earn an MPH as the first year of the Aviation Medicine residency.

1957

JHSPH faculty revolt to defeat the recommendation of the Committee to Reconsider the Educational Objectives of the School to eliminate the MPH, focus on the DrPH, and limit admission to MDs.

1962

JHSPH establishes a two-year General Preventive Medicine Residency. Residents earn an MPH and spend another year in public health practice rotations.

1963

Sushila Nayar, MPH ’50 is appointed India’s Minister of Health, one of many MPH alumni leading national health ministries.

1978

JHSPH establishes the Office of Student Affairs under Associate Dean Edgar Roulhac, MPH ’75. His MPH minority recruitment and retention programs become the basis for developing the MPH student orientation and alumni career network.

1979

Dean D. A. Henderson, MPH ’60 establishes an MPH review committee and names Abraham Lilienfeld, MPH ’49, the first MPH program director in 1980.

1980

The MPH curriculum is modernized and expanded from 9 to 11 months.

1984

MPH students establish the Anna Baetjer Society to promote student interest in public health practice.

1986

Edyth Schoenrich, MPH ’71, steps down as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to direct the part-time professional programs and serve as associate chair of the MPH Program. In these roles until 2018, she designs flexible graduate programs for working professionals.

1999

W. Henry Mosley, MPH ’65 creates a CDC-funded part-time distance option for the MPH, the first ever offered online. That June, 35 students enroll.

2005

MPH program enrolls Tulane students in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

2006

First MPH cohort enrolls in Barcelona, Spain.

2019

JHSPH offers a fully online MPH program for the first time.

2020

The Bloomberg School MPH Centennial Class begins its studies.

MPH Program Directors Since 1980

1980-1984: Abraham Lilienfeld, MPH ’49

1984-1989: David Paige, MPH ’69

1989-1996: Haroutune Armenian, MPH ’72, DrPH ’74

1997-2002: Miriam Alexander, MPH ’90

2002-2008: Ronald S. Brookmeyer

2008-present: Marie Diener-West