Diversity and Inclusion

At the Gillings School, diversity and inclusion mean we welcome, value and learn from individual differences and perspectives. By cultivating inclusion within the School, we better prepare our students, faculty and staff for the diverse world that awaits them. A globally-interconnected world needs culturally competent people to serve as its leaders. Diversity and inclusion are assets that contribute to our excellence.

Our Department’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workgroup

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workgroup is a group of faculty, staff and student representatives who formed in Winter 2020 to address the need to improve the Department of Maternal and Child Health’s curriculum, workforce and training to support diversity, equity and inclusion. Read more about the workgroup, its members and view resources.

Our Mission

The Department of Maternal and Child Health’s mission is to integrate its teaching, research, technical assistance, and consultation programs to promote and improve the health status of specific population groups – women in their reproductive years, children (including those with special needs), adolescents, and families in U.S. domestic and international settings. Health is defined in the broadest sense to include physical, political, economic, cultural and psychosocial factors.

We assume the responsibility to plan, with each student, an individualized program of learning experiences that will develop their knowledge and understanding of ways to
protect and promote health, to prevent disease, and to cope with illness in the populations of concern. Major emphasis is placed on population-based solutions to complex health problems that are multifactorial in origin, rather than on short-term solutions for resolving the immediate problems of individuals.

We strive to provide a mixture of disciplinary backgrounds and interests within the faculty and to recruit students of varying ethnic and educational backgrounds, disciplines,
experience, interests, and skills. By complementing students’ functional skills, we seeks to prepare professional health workers who are sensitive to health needs and to the
dynamic requirements of change in urban and rural societies, both domestic and international.

Our History

The Department of Maternal and Child Health was established in 1950 with funds from the US Department of Labor’s Children’s Bureau. Since the passage of the Sheppard-Towner Act in 1921, the Children’s Bureau had aided programs designed to reduce maternal and infant mortality. The expansion of these programs increased the demand for professionals in the field. Dean McGavran selected Dr. Sidney Shaw Chipman to head the department.

The women’s movement and changing attitudes toward sexuality heightened the public’s awarness of maternal and child health issues and increased the demand for public programs. The Department of Maternal and Child Health benefitted from this increased exposure and grew dramatically during the seventies.

Today, the Department is lead by Carolyn T. Halpern, PhD.

Contact Information

Our offices are located on the fourth floor of Rosenau Hall.

Office of Student Affairs
Contact your academic coordinator.

Assistant to Chair
Julie Theriault: jther@email.unc.edu, (919) 966-5981

Phone
(919) 966- 2017

Mailing Address
Department of Maternal and Child Health
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
135 Dauer Drive
401 Rosenau Hall, CB #7445
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445

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CONTACT INFORMATION
Contact your Academic Coordinator.
Assistant to Chair: Katie Lucey
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135 Dauer Drive
401 Rosenau Hall, CB #7445
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445
(919) 966-2017