FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 28, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- With Friday's formal naming ceremony,
Indiana University Bloomington's venerable School of Health,
Physical Education and Recreation received a new name, IU School of
Public Health-Bloomington, and a reinvigorated mission to advance
novel, nontraditional approaches to addressing the state's public
health needs.
University and school dignitaries, administrators, faculty and
staff gathered in the Tony A. Mobley Auditorium at IU Bloomington
to celebrate the formal renaming of the school, an important
milestone in the IU Public Health Initiative, launched in 2009 to
address critical health needs throughout Indiana.
"The new School of Public Health in Bloomington will, like its
counterpart on our Indianapolis campus, address crucial health
issues that affect the quality of life and the economic vitality of
our state in very real ways," IU President Michael A. McRobbie
said. "The new school in Bloomington will build on the exceptional
work done for decades at our former School of Health, Physical
Education and Recreation, as well as emphasize the Bloomington
campus' strengths in areas such as environmental, social and
behavioral health.
"The School of Public Health in Bloomington, with its focus on
rural and community-based health research and practice, will serve
as a perfect complement to our School of Public Health in
Indianapolis, and combined, the two schools will play an unmatched
role in improving the health and well-being of Hoosiers for
generations to come."
The School of
Public Health-Bloomington, which offers the oldest
accredited Master of Public Health degree in the state, has almost
3,000 undergraduate and graduate majors pursuing longstanding and
new degree programs in its departments of Kinesiology, Applied
Health Science, Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies, Environmental
Health and Epidemiology and Biostatics.
With a strong history in kinesthetic and wellness sciences, the
school will focus on rural health, an important issue throughout
the state, with a primary emphasis on community-based wellness.
Faculty and staff will build upon strengths in social and
behavioral health, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, and
community-based research and practice.
"Our vision for our school is very simple," Interim Dean
Mohammad Torabi said. "We collectively are committed to building on
our strengths on the Bloomington campus and almost seven decades of
our school's research, teaching outreach/service programs, and
nationally renowned faculty to become one of the top-tier
accredited schools of public health."
On Thursday, McRobbie presided over the naming ceremony for the
IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Indiana State Health
Commissioner Gregory Larkin delivered the keynote address for both
ceremonies.
The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation last year gave IU $20
million to help establish the school in Indianapolis, which evolved
from the Department of Public Health in the IU School of Medicine.
The school will draw upon the resources of the IUPUI health
sciences campus, including the faculty and programs of the School
of Medicine and other campus health schools.
Together, these two schools of public health mark the only two
such schools in the state. The schools are expected to enable IU to
compete for federal and foundation funding that is available only
to school of public health.
Attendees of the Bloomington naming ceremony included trustees
and former deans. Also providing remarks were Vice President for
Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs Edwin Marshall, who
also chairs the IU Public Health Coordinating Council; IU Executive
Vice President and IU Bloomington Provost Lauren Robel; Torabi;
clinical professor Katie Grove; and doctoral student Margo
Mullinax.
For additional information, contact Charles Rondot, IU
School of Public Health-Bloomington, at 812-855-1354 or crondot@indiana.edu;
or Tracy James, IU Communications, at 812-850084 or traljame@iu.edu.
SOURCE