About Us

Improving the health of every community

Description of the video:

Description of the following video:

[Video: Man in black suit and tie, wearing black glasses appears. He is sitting in an office with a picture frame and clock behind him.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Paul Halverson, Founding Dean]

Dean Halverson: Hello. As the founding dean here at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, it’s an honor to celebrate our school’s five year anniversary. I am immensely proud of the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and supporters who have all helped make the Fairbanks School of Public Health what it is today.

[Music begins playing in background.]

Dean Halverson: From the feasibility study funded by the Lilly Foundation, to the generous gift of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation to the many accomplishments we’ve made these past five years, we’ve hit milestones that each play an integral role in our journey.

[Video: Students are shown walking throughout Taylor Courtyard of the IUPUI campus, in a sped-up manner. Various parts of the campus are shown from a sky view, and the scene closes with an IUPUI flag shown in the center of downtown.]

Dean Halverson: Public health matters now more than ever, and our goal to advance the public’s health and well-being can only happen through education, innovation and leadership.

[Video: Man in brown suit jacket and blue shirt, wearing brown glasses appears. He is sitting in an office with a picture frame behind him to the right.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Stephen Jay, Professor Emeritus]

Stephen: Well I started the original program which was in the department of, actually the school of medicine.

[Video: Students walk through skywalk, the Health Sciences Building appears and a truck rides by.]

Stephen: In 1994 Chancellor Bepco and doctor, Dean Dally said “Hey we need a school of public health in Indiana. We’ve got a lot of health problems and we need a school.”

[Video: A woman wearing pink is shown within the building, walking into the Fairbanks School of Public Health. Scene ends on Stephen sitting in the office again.]

Stephen: A school allows you to bring together a critical mass of faculty, the resources, some infrastructure to allow you then to begin to do quality research.”

p>[Video: A man wearing a navy blue suit jacket and white shirt sits in an office, in front of a whiteboard.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Steven Lacey, Associate Professor, Environmental Health Science Dept. Chair]

Steven: A school of public health helps sort of bring those resources and expertise of the faculty that are here, brings those resources to bear with our community partners that exist through state and local government.

[Video: A woman wearing brown glasses and a brown blouse appears, sitting in a room with a television behind her to the left.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Silvia Bigatti, Associate Professor, Principal Investigator for Your Life, Your Story]

Silvia: Looking at my last eight years here at the school of public health, the tremendous growth. When I came there were eight faculty and I was number nine; we weren’t a school.

[Video: A professor in a blue shirt and black bowtie teaches students in a stadium class room.]

Silvia: And so the tremendous growth and change, and yet I think the character has remained the same. The same thing that brought me here is still here.

[Video: A girl in a blue dress walks to the receptionist in the Fairbanks School of Public Health and hands her a red folder. They laugh and talk briefly. Scene ends with a man sitting in front of a television in an office with a blue wall. He is wearing a suit jacket and plaid shirt.]

Man begins speaking: I would say not only do we have access to all the resources of an R-1 university, but we also have people who really are staked in kind of our…

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Spencer Lourens, Assistant Professor, BS in Health Data Science Program Director]

Spencer: …combined growth as a school. And that’s a really special thing to be a part of.

[Video: A woman in glasses and a purple, patterned shirt sits in front of a lime green wall within an office.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Megan Klopchin, Alumna, Consultant Policy Research, Global Patient Outcomes, & Real World Evidence, Eli Lilly and Co.]

Megan: I think the opportunities that Fairbanks gives to have some availability to do capstone projects or internships and externships to get real-world experience is unique.

[Video: A female professor talks in her office with a female student while they review a paper document.]

Woman begins speaking: It’s really great to see why these students want to be in public health.

[Video: A female with long hair, wearing black glasses and a red t-shirt speaks while sitting in a computer lab.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Rachel Forster, Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs and Recruitment]

Rachel: I think a lot of them discover our program when they get here to IUPUI, so we’re really great at the parallel planning and helping the students along the way figure out what major they want to pick from our school, because of how they want to help people.

[Video: Rachel helps students as she walks throughout the computer lab. They laugh and talk with each other. The scene then changes to a man in a blue collar shirt and tie, speaking while sitting in an office.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Joshua Vest, Associate Professor, Director for the Center for Health Policy]

Joshua: It’s a good school, good colleagues, great opportunity, just so much actually happening around Indiana and Indianapolis in particular. Around health, population health, public health.

[Video: Joshua walks and talks with a woman in a hall.]

Joshua: There’s a real degree of movement in the right direction and it’s really cool to be a part of that.

Man begins speaking: I mean the center has been around longer than the school.

[Red words appear center screen: The Center for Health Policy]

[Video: Man in a blue shirt and tie speaks while sitting in a meeting room. A desk and television are behind him to the left.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Nir Menachemi, Professor, Health Policy and Management Department Chair]

Nir: And we’ve been lucky to be able to inherit the center as part of the Fairbanks School of Public Health.

[Video: Nir teaches students in a classroom setting, followed by a scene of him speaking with a young woman as they look at a laptop together.]

Joshua: The mission of the Center for Health Policy is really to generate evidence for informed decision-making around health in the state of Indiana and nationwide.

[Words appear center screen: The Center for Public Health Practice]

Woman begins speaking: The Center for Public Health Practice is….

[Video: Woman wearing glasses and a black jacket speaks while sitting in a meeting room. A whiteboard is behind her to the left.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Joan Duwve, Associate Professor, Associate Dean of Public Health Practice]

Joan: …It’s an idea that we kind of developed to help actually teach public health practice alongside the academic parts of public health.

[Video: A young woman wearing a sweater talks in a meeting room with a young man wearing a red shirt. They look over and discuss some forms together.]

Joan: It really is foundational for our school to engage students in practice so that we can train the best public health leaders of the future.

[Video: A young woman wearing a blue dress begins speaking while sitting in an office.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Samantha Childress, Research Facilitator, Alumna]

Samantha: What I was learning in the classroom is now what I am going to be actually doing.

[Video: Stephen begins speaking while sitting in an office.]

Stephen: Because of the presence of our school and training people, we now have students out there who are leading agencies. They’re leading departments. They’re key to the success of the health of Indiana and that’s exciting to see.

[Video: A woman wearing black begins speaking while sitting in an office.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Miranda Spitznagle, Alumna, Director – Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Comission; Indiana State Department of Health]

Miranda: In a large vibrant community such as Indianapolis, there’s lots to be exposed to, not only in the city, but then just the campus in general.

[Video: Campus train travels along the rail in downtown Indianapolis.]

Miranda: You’ve got lots of exposure, I think, to the medical school, the law school, nursing. I mean all of the different disciplines that I think make public health the exciting place that it is.

[Video: Spencer begins talking.]

Spencer: It’s kind of humbling to come in to a classroom and have a completely different perspective that’s given to you from the students and their attitudes and their enthusiasm.

[Video: Male student begins talking while sitting in a meeting room.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Trevor Cunningham, Student, BS in Health Services Management]

Trevor: I see a wide range of potential for the school, especially because I’m the president of our undergraduate association. So I’m really excited to work with professors like Tom Duszynski and Leah and Sarah Johnson.

[Video: Woman in a leather jacket begins talking directly to camera. She is sitting in a room.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Suzanne Babich, Professor, Associate Dean of Global Health]

Suzanne: Whether they are working at home or anywhere they go in the world, we want our graduates to be comfortable and to excel in multicultural settings where people come from many different backgrounds and world views.

[Video: Three students of (seemingly) different ethnicities have a pleasant discussion at a table together.]

Suzanne: We make this possible in a number of ways through our approach to teaching, research and service learning.

[Video: Rachel speaks to students in a computer lab.]

Man begins speaking: I joined the Fairbanks School of Public Health four years ago as a department chair of epidemiology.

[Video: The man speaking appears and he is sitting in a meeting room, wearing a blue collar shirt and tie.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Dr. Jiali Han, Professor, Epidemiology Department Chair]

Jiali: I have to say that I’m thrilled to see the fantastic growth of epidemiology department. Together, we have made a great deal of achievement.

[Video: Dean Halverson and three women have a discussion in a meeting room.]

Young woman begins speaking: I received the scholarship that Fairbanks has just begun providing to graduate students.

[Video: The woman speaking appears. She is wearing a white shirt and sitting in a room.]

[Words appear alongside the IU logo: Hadyatoullaye Sow, Student, Master of Public Health]

Hadyatoullaye: So when the scholarship came out it was a huge deal because it helped me continue my education. I really would not have been able… I would’ve had to stop. It would have put a halt to my education if I hadn’t received the scholarship.

[Video: Nir teaches a class of students.]

Hadyatoullaye: I just always found a friendly atmosphere at Fairbanks School of Public Health. I always found a friendly environment here.

[Video: Dean Halverson appears and addresses the camera directly.]

Dean Halverson: Thank you for everyone who has helped make our success possible and congratulations on five years of groundbreaking work. Together, we are improving the public’s health.

[Music ends]

[Words appear on white background: Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health Indianapolis]

[End of transcript]

Transforming. It’s a powerful word, but truly describes our academic programs and our goals for research and service in public health and the health care system. We are committed to ensuring that our programs are rigorous, intellectually challenging, and rewarding. After all, together, we have the potential of improving the health of every community.

We invite you to join us as we prepare future leaders, discover best practices, and implement innovative approaches to building a healthier world.

Mission, vision, and values

The Fairbanks School of Public Health is dedicated to the pursuit of health for all people. We emphasize the prevention of disease and strive to ensure the interests of the public are represented in health policies and practices.

See our mission, vision, and values

Strategic plan

The Fairbanks School of Public Health gathered together to create a strategic plan that focuses on becoming a leader in public health innovation in Indiana and beyond.

View our strategic plan details