NYU’s Board of Trustees today voted to create a new Faculty of Health, to create a College of Global Public Health, and to move the College of Nursing to full college status.
New Unit to Spur Efforts in Public Health and Other Health Areas
Colleges of Global Public Health, Nursing, and Dentistry To Be Linked in New Unit
In order to spur NYU’s efforts in public health, nursing, dentistry, and other health areas, prompt innovative research collaborations, and strengthen teaching and research in the health field, NYU’s Board of Trustees today voted to create a new Faculty of Health, to create a College of Global Public Health, and to move the College of Nursing to full college status.
The Faculty of Health will be made up of a new College of Global Public Health, a newly stand-alone College of Nursing, and the College of Dentistry. The creation of the new Faculty of Health – which altogether will have over 360 faculty members, nearly 4,000 students, and will offer bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. degrees through the three constituent colleges – was recommended by a working group of 26 faculty and deans, and was supported by faculty governance groups and the University Senate prior to the Trustees’ vote. It will be officially launched in the coming months; a national search for a dean of the Faculty of Health will begin in the fall semester.
As part of the creation of the Faculty of Health, the Trustees also:
- Created the NYU College of Global Public Health. The College of Global Public Health will offer Ph.D. degrees, MPH degrees, and collaborate with other NYU schools on joint global public health majors for undergraduates in both the College of Arts and Science and professional schools including NYU’s College of Nursing, Silver School of Social Work, and the Steinhardt School. It will be one of the three colleges in the Faculty of Health.
- Gave the NYU College of Nursing full status as a college. Since 2005, the College of Nursing – one of the top-ranked nursing programs in the U.S. and 3rd in NIH funding – has been part of NYU’s College of Dentistry; as of the coming academic year, it will have status as a full college of the University, and be one of the three colleges in the Faculty of Health.
Robert Berne, NYU’s Executive Vice President for Health, said, “The creation of the Faculty of Health is a natural evolutionary step that builds on NYU’s strengths, particularly our unrivaled global presence and our successes with interdisciplinary collaboration. Its three component colleges – nursing, dentistry, and global public health – are among our most dynamic, innovative, successful, and collaborative schools, and the Faculty of Health will provide a frame for them to work together even more closely on improving human health, both for individuals and populations. The Faculty of Health will collaborate closely with virtually all of NYU’s other schools, including the NYU Langone Medical Center, the Silver School of Social Work, the Steinhardt School, the Faculty of Arts and Science, the Wagner School, and our school of engineering.”
“I am particularly pleased by the excitement the faculty in these colleges – and in other NYU schools – have shown for this idea. I want to thank them, the deans, and all the others involved in bringing this about.
“NYU has long been at the forefront medicine and science. I have no doubt that over the years to come this new NYU Faculty of Health will contribute to boosting human health, produce remarkable new research, and educate students who will go on to be leaders in the health field.”
NYU President John Sexton said, “These changes will be an important step forward for NYU’s health enterprise. And it epitomizes the NYU way of doing business – innovatively and collaboratively creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Each of these colleges is a leader within its field, and going forward each will be strengthened by its connection to others.”
Charles Bertolami, dean of the College of Dentistry, said, "The College of Dentistry enthusiastically welcomes the creation of the Faculty of Health. We currently enjoy multiple close collaborations with both the College of Nursing and the Global Institute of Public Health. This new initiative will further strengthen our ability to collaborate and to help solve the complex public health problems which confront the world."
Cheryl Healton, inaugural dean of the College of Global Public Health, said, "The public health challenges facing the world today are formidable, and we are poised to contribute to their solutions with our colleagues throughout NYU. This University is revered for its entrepreneurial spirit, and we intend to harness and apply it to the world's most pressing health problems.”
Eileen Sullivan-Marx, dean of the College of Nursing, said, “NYU’s College of Nursing has a long and successful history of leadership in nursing and international health education and research. This move to an independent school status, as well as the establishment of a Faculty of Health at NYU, will ensure that the tradition of excellence for which we are so well known flourishes. Today we recognize the power of innovative, interdisciplinary relationships to address global health issues. These changes catalyze the College of Nursing along with our colleagues in health to heighten our impact toward the best quality of health for New York, the nation, and the world.”