The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
About Berkeley Public Health
Our public health innovators and changemakers are bending the arc of the moral universe toward health equity and social justice.
At UC Berkeley School of Public Health, health equity and social justice are part of our DNA. For more than 75 years, we’ve been pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo.
We believe that universities exist not only for the generation of knowledge and education of students, but for the betterment of our community and the world. In the next decade, we plan to harness our commitment to antiracism and community engagement to become the world’s leading school of public health for social impact.
Berkeley Public Health is preparing the students in our 20+ graduate programs—as well as our healthy cohort of undergraduate students—to become public health changemakers. As future public health leaders, they will push forward our vision of the basic human right to a healthy life.
And our faculty, researchers, and 18,500 alumni are already using their education and skills to improve the health and welfare of our communities, the state, and the world. They are especially focused on innovating solutions to four of the most pressing public health threats of our time: climate change, pandemic threats, chronic diseases, and social inequality.
UC Berkeley is a university whose commitment to social justice empowers us to lead change. And Berkeley Public Health offers students unique opportunities to collaborate with leaders in key science and humanities disciplines, including engineering, computer science, social welfare, public policy, journalism, international development, business, law, and more.
As part of the UC system, Berkeley Public Health has access to unequaled networks across the state and worldwide, including partnerships with UCSF’s premier medical school. Our Bay Area location and its proximity to Silicon Valley allow us to collaborate with businesses, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to be at the forefront of innovations in integrated health delivery, healthy communities, and health policies.
Our Campus
Our campus is an open one. Stop by our building, attend an event, or chat with our ambassadors to learn more about us. Take a walk around campus or contact Berkeley Visitor Services to set up a guided tour.
Once you become a student, you’ll gain access to over ten million volumes in the university’s 18 libraries and will be taught by some of the most distinguished teachers and scholars in the world.
To complement our exciting academic community, UC Berkeley is home to state-of-the-art athletic facilities, nationally ranked sports teams, an art museum, the Pacific Film Archive, the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, and the Bancroft Library, and hosts world-class concerts and events through Cal Performances and at the Greek Theatre.
Our City
Experience the fun, eclectic and vibrant culture of Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit the Cal Parents website for more information about campus life, directions and parking and dining and accommodations.
Our Building in Downtown Berkeley
We are located in the Berkeley Way West building, with additional offices across campus.
UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Berkeley Way West
2121 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, California 94720
Accreditation
The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is an independent agency, recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit schools of public health. In 2023, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health was engaged in the reaccreditation process. The CEPH Board of Councilors prepared a final report and acted at its December 14-15, 2023 meeting to accredit the UC Berkeley School of Public Health for a seven-year term, through December 31, 2030.
History
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Timeline 1942–Present
1942 The Northern California Public Health Association appoints a committee on the establishment of a school of public health in California, chaired by William P. Shepard, second vice president of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, with strong endorsement by the California Medical Association. 1943 Shepard, Larry Arnstein, Karl F. Meyer, and other interested constituents successfully present the necessity of a school of public health to the California State Legislature. The legislature enacts a law, signed by Governor Earl Warren, establishing the School at the University of California. 1944 Margaret Beattie, Fern French, Walter Mangold, Harold Gray, Escholzia Lucia, and Frank Kelley constitute the School's principal faculty.
The School holds its first commencement.
Walter Brown begins service as first dean.1945 The School launches a training program for public health sanitarians. 1946 The American Public Health Association accredits the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, making it the only accredited school of public health west of the Mississippi.
Edward S. Rogers begins service as second dean.1947 The School grants its first DrPH degree. 1951 Charles E. Smith begins service as third dean. 1955 UC Berkeley Chancellor Clark Kerr dedicates Earl Warren Hall, named for the former California governor and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, who was instrumental in obtaining public funding for its construction. 1960 The School grants its first PhD degree. 1961 The School is accredited to offer MDs, a residency program in preventive medicine, the first school of public health to receive such accreditation. 1967 William C. Reeves begins service as fourth dean. 1968 The School ends its undergraduate degree program. 1971 The American Indian Graduate Program is founded to respond to a need for more Native American health professionals.
Warren Winkelstein Jr.begins service as fifth dean.1979 The Minority Enrollment Program is established in response to California's growing multicultural population. 1982 The UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program is placed under the School's administrative direction.
Joyce C. Lashof begins service as sixth dean.1983 The San Francisco Men's Health Study is launched by Warren Winkelstein Jr. The study will provide key epidemiological support for the link between HIV and AIDS. 1984 The UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, under the leadership of Sheldon Margen, publishes its first issue. Today it is the most widely read health newsletter in North America. 1986 Leonard Syme develops the Wellness Guide to provide Californians with direct information on how to stay well and how to find help on a wide range of health-related topics. 1987 Martyn Smith is appointed director of the School's Superfund Basic Research Program, which is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 1991 Berkeley students establish the Suitcase Clinic to address some of the health and social problems related to homelessness. 1992 The School's international health program is formally developed with the successful recruitment of Malcolm Potts to the Fred H. Bixby Endowed Chair in Population and Family Planning and multiple awards from the NIH Fogarty Center on International Health.
Patricia A. Buffler begins service as seventh dean.1993 The CDC chooses the School of Public Health as one of nine health promotion and disease prevention research centers around the nation. The Center for Family and Community Health is led by Ira Tager. 1994 UC Berkeley launches its Millennium Campaign, "The Promise of Berkeley Campaign for the New Century." By the end of the campaign, the School of Public Health surpasses its $20 million goal, raising more than $26 million.
Arthur L. Reingold establishes the CDC California Emerging Infections Program.1995 The School teams with the Peace Corps to establish the Master's Internationalist Program. 1996 The School establishes the Public Health Heroes Award program to honor individuals and organizations for their unique contributions and exceptional commitment to improving public health.
The School holds its first annual research symposium.1998 Sponsored research activities grow to $25 million annually.
Edward E. Penhoet begins service as eighth dean.1999 The University launches the Berkeley Health Sciences Initiative, with leadership from Dean Penhoet, to encourage multidisciplinary research in the health sciences across the campus.
The Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare is established.2000 Responding to the growth of the Internet and its potential to impact health, the School holds its first eHealth Summit and Forum. 2001 The Center for Health Research is established as a University-wide effort to bring together UC Berkeley social scientists and other investigators to address challenging issues facing the health sector of society. 2002 The School receives a federal grant to establish the Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness following the 2001 anthrax attacks. Arthur L. Reingold serves as principal investigator.
The Center of Excellence for Environmental Public Health Tracking, funded by the CDC and headed by John Balmes, is established to investigate links between diseases and environmental pollutants.
Stephen M. Shortell begins service as ninth dean.2003 Sponsored research activities expand to over $40 million annually.
The School reestablishes an upper-division undergraduate major in public health.
2005 Senior health care leaders from countries around the world convene at Berkeley for the first Berkeley-Barcelona Advanced Health Leadership Forum (now called the Global Health Leadership Forum). 2007 The School's Center for Global Public Health is established and led by director Eva Harris. The Center for Exposure Biology is also established and led by Stephen Rappaport.
Kirk R. Smith shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore and coauthors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on global warming.2008 The School enters a partnership with Mexico's National Institute of Public Health (INSP) to collaborate on finding solutions to health issues throughout the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.
The School launches The Campaign for the School of Public Health, with the theme "Healthier Lives in a Safer World," with a private philanthropy goal of $110 million.
With the help of donor support, the School founds the Center for Health Leadership, with the mission of enhancing the School's curricular and experiential offerings to better prepare students to be effective health leaders and professionals.2009 The School's Berkeley Center for Health Technology is established and led by director James C. Robinson.
The Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry is established in order to build a novel academic program to advance green chemistry through interdisciplinary scholarship.2010 The first MPH program in occupational and environmental health and safety ever offered in India is launched by Sri Ramachandra University in collaboration with UC Berkeley. 2011 In direct response to the serious, growing need for educated public health leaders, the School establishes the first-ever online degree program on the UC Berkeley campus, the On-Campus/Online Professional MPH Degree Program. 2013 Stefano Bertozzi begins service as 10th dean.
UC Berkeley launches the Berkeley Food Institute, an interdisciplinary research center.
The Campaign for the School of Public Health comes to a close, raising $116 million.2014 The Center for Healthcare Organizational and Innovation Research is established and led by director Stephen Shortell. 2015 A $13 million bequest from Dr. Helen Wallace establishes the Helen Wallace Center for Maternal and Child Health.
The first UC Berkeley team to compete in the International Emory Global Health Case Competition wins first place.2016 In partnership with the College of Engineering, the School launches the Fung Fellowship for Wellness and Technology Innovations, a two-year fellowship for undergraduates.
Construction begins on the new Berkeley Way Building, which will house the School of Public Health, as well as the Graduate School of Education and the Department of Psychology.
The School graduates its 100th student from the On-Campus/Online MPH (OOMPH) degree program and begins offering an HPM concentration for students who will enroll in OOMPH starting in January 2017.2018 The School of Public Health celebrates its 75 anniversary.
The school moves into its new home at Berkeley Way West.2019 Michael C. Lu begins service as 11th dean. 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic hits the United States; Berkeley Public Health emerges as a leader in COVID-19 research and response.