Dean's Message - March 2026
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We are delighted to host our first school-wide event in the new HUB, the annual student awards celebration, this weekend. During this event, our school will award a total of ~$80K in scholarships to 62 students across the various departments at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. These scholarships recognize the talents and financial needs of our students as they pursue their degrees in public health and health sciences. Some of the award monies will go directly toward supporting tuition, while others will allow students to participate in high-impact practices such as internships with community partners, local and state departments of public health, and industry, and to conduct research in faculty laboratories. Other awards provide funds for students to travel to conferences to disseminate their research findings and enhance their discipline-specific learning goals.
This wonderful event always takes a team to plan, read applications and select recipients, implement, and clean up. Thank you to all the staff and faculty who have engaged in this process, with a special call out to Jackie O’Keefe, Amelia Mazzuca, Connie McCudden, and Torin Moore.
I also want to extend my deep appreciation to the donors who make all these scholarships possible. Their philanthropy makes a huge difference in the lives of our students. I recently had lunch with a student who benefitted from receiving a travel award to attend our Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health annual meeting in Washington D.C. who said (and I am paraphrasing here) the meeting was inspiring, it provided her with a renewed sense of purpose as to why it is so important to complete her degree and work in improving the lives of all. I would love to have more of our students attend that meeting, and the many others that will inspire our students’ futures.
And on that note, I want to remind our community that UMassGives, the university’s two-day online giving campaign, is happening on April 29-30. Last year, the campaign brought in more than $2 million from more than 10,000 donors. Of that, the SPHHS brought in ~$11K, and I know that we can do better. This year the school will focus on three asks: Your help to 1) support students in emergency situations, 2) support undergraduate research and practice internships, and 3) support graduate student travel for conferences. Please consider giving during this time. Any size gift counts and we would love to increase the number of donors this year by 50%.
I want to update our community on the memorial service for our beloved faculty member, Dr. Dan Gerber. It will be held on May 8th from 3-5 pm in the SPHHS HUB, with a virtual option available for those who can’t join us in person. I hope you will join us to celebrate his life by sharing memories and stories.
Finally, I'd like to invite all graduating seniors to apply to be our Senior Recognition Ceremony student speaker. Each year, we search for the voice that will represent their graduating class. The student speech is truly one of the most special moments in our ceremony, as the experiences, impressions, and passion for the future is articulated through the voice that most matters on that day – the graduate. We are especially proud of the fact that our SPHHS Dean's Student Advisory Board selects the finalists, making sure the speech represents the student perspective. Interested graduating seniors should visit the our Senior Recognition Ceremony webpage for more information. Submissions are due by April 6th.