
Dean's Message

Dean Barbara K. Rimer (Photo by Brian Strickland)
It’s hard to imagine a clearer demonstration of the importance of well-designed public health policies and practices than the global health pandemic crisis through which we all have been living. So many people in the U.S. and around the world have suffered, and people of color have borne a disproportionate share of the burden.
As dean of the top-ranked public school of public health in the country, I am incredibly proud of the many ways the Gillings community, both within our school and beyond, responded to the crisis, delivering high-impact research and critical insights in the global effort to understand transmission of SARS-CoV-2, develop vaccines and effective treatments, and manage the pandemic in real time, while simultaneously working to develop creative, evidence-based strategies to help communities both better manage the present and prepare for the future. Despite disruptions to campus life in 2020, our team also found innovative ways to continue to engage with our extraordinary students, who are themselves the world’s future public health leaders and change agents. It is a privilege to be part of the Gillings community. Our people inspire and excite me every day.
Achieving better public health outcomes requires more than high-quality medical care, as important as that is. Public policies, economic inequities and long-standing and persistent racial inequities all affect total population health. Every country needs leaders who understand the interconnections.
At Gillings, we’re passionate about…
Our Mission: To improve public health, promote individual well-being and eliminate health inequities across North Carolina and the around the world. Every day, we are working to end structural racism in public health and in societies more broadly. Nothing could be more important!

Gillings students walk in front of Rosenau Hall in 2019.

Students, faculty and staff attend the 2018 Minority Health Conference.
Our Culture: An inclusive and collaborative, civil, interdisciplinary, solutions-focused environment that fosters meaningful connections, along with breakthrough thinking and discovery. We are committed to diversity and inclusive excellence in everything we do.
Our Innovative Approach: Participatory instruction and research, whether on campus or working remotely, harnessing technology and new strategies to deliver “best in class” in all that we do.

Dr. Timothy Sheahan wears a full-body protective suit while working in Dr. Ralph Baric’s biosafety level four lab.

The Gillings School buildings are lined with greenery.