Dear SPH Community,

As you may have read in this afternoon’s email from President Paxson, Dean Jha returns to lead the Brown University School of Public Health on July 1, 2023. We are all very thankful for his service to our country, working with President Biden to lead our nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's incredible what we have accomplished at the School of Public Health in just one year. With the leadership of our Executive Committee and the tireless support of our faculty, staff, students and postdocs, we have successfully advanced upon the path that Dean Jha set forth when he went to Washington last spring.

This year the first cohort of our Health Equity Scholars joined over 175 public health students — the school’s largest graduating class — at Brown’s Commencement and were welcomed into our vibrant alumni community. We have launched new academic programs, including the Online MPH program and the Accelerated MPH for Clinicians. We launched the Pandemic Center and hosted a new series of seminars to address climate change as a public health emergency. The Information Futures Lab continued its groundbreaking work addressing and combating information disorders and welcomed the first cohort of IFL Fellows. We doubled the number of student research posters presented at this year’s Public Health Research Day and celebrated our community with our first annual Dean’s Awards ceremony. And this rich and rewarding year was made possible by you—as always, I am blown away by our community’s commitment and enthusiasm for the field of public health.

I will remain interim dean until June 30, 2023, when I will transition to a full-time position as senior associate dean for education, a role I have been fulfilling on an interim basis for several months. I have been honored to serve as interim dean during such an important time in our school’s history. I know that our skillful staff will shepherd a smooth leadership transition. Rest assured that we will keep everyone informed of our progress along the way.

Please join me in welcoming Dean Jha back to the School of Public Health.

Sincerely,

Ronald E. Aubert, PhD, MSPH
Interim Dean