Department of Public Health History

A timeline of our milestones

• 1969
  • MS degree in Public Health Education becomes the first public health degree program outside a school of public health or college of medicine in the USA to receive accreditation by the Committee on Professional Education of the American Public Health Association (APHA). It is housed in the UTK College of Education.
• 1970
  • William Forrseter is the first person to receive a Master of Public Health (MPH) at UTK.
• 1971
  • State of Tennessee approves the academic MPH degree at UTK.
  • Hugh Barnes becomes the first recipient of the MPH after the program received full accredited.
• 1972
  • US Public Health Service traineeships becomes available to qualifying MPH students.
  • Health Planning and Administration (HPA) MPH concentration is approved.
• 1974
  • Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety (OEHS) MPH concentration is established.
  • HPA concentration has its first graduate.
• 1976
  • Accreditation extension of the MPH program is awarded by APHA.
  • First student graduates from the OEHS concentration.
• 1980
  • Program celebrates its 10-year accreditation anniversary.
• 1982
  • The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) grants initial accreditation as a community health education program on Oct. 19.
  • Prof. Charles B. Hamilton is appointed as public health program director. He serves until his retirement in 2014.
• 1983
  • Public Health 509: Graduate Seminar in Public Health is first offered. The interdisciplinary course continues to be offered during fall and spring semesters and is cross-listed by five academic units. .
• 1984
  • CEPH extends accreditation of the Community Health Education program.
  • Statistics minor is offered through affiliation with the Intercollegiate Graduate Statistics Program. First MPH student with a minor in statistics graduates in 1986.
• 1985
  • 500th student graduates with the MPH degree.
• 1986
  • American Industrial Hygiene Foundation offers fellowship awards to outstanding MPH students in the OEHS concentration.
• 1987
  • MPH program receives accreditation in the broader CEPH category of  community health/preventive medicine (CH/PM), making it the first program in the nation outside of a school of medicine to be accredited in this category. This accreditation includes all three concentrations, CHE, HPA, and OEHS.
• 1988
  • University converts from quarter to semester system, leading to significant curricular changes.
  • A research-oriented master’s essay option is developed and approved as an internship alternative for students with extensive work experience.
• 1989
  • A HPA student completes the first master’s essay.
• 1990
  • UTK, in cooperation with the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Social Work, offers first MPH degree program with a CHE concentration for US Army Veterinarians .
• 1991
  • Inaugural issue of the MPH Memos newsletter is released.
  • 20-year anniversary of the first MPH degree awarded is held in the fall semester.
• 1993
  • MPH program is awarded accreditation extension by CEPH.
• 1995
  • June D. Gorski Scholarship Endowment (the first UTK public health scholarship) is established to recognize graduate students in public health or health education who demonstrated a commitment to community-based initiatives through preventive measures, advocacy and collaboration.
• 1996
  • 25th anniversary of the MPH program is celebrated. By this time, nearly 850 individuals have earned an MPH degree from the UTK.
• 1997
  • MPH program becomes the first academic unit in the nation to formalize observation of National Public Health Week on campus.
  • Dual degree (MS-MPH) program  is approved in cooperation with the Department of Nutrition for students in public health nutrition. First student graduates from the dual program later that same year.
• 1998
  • MPH Gerontology (GEN) is approved.
  • UTK public health website launches its first website.
  • OEHS concentration has its final graduate. Concentration discontinued due to a lack of financial resources.
• 1999
  • GEN concentration graduates its first student.
  • Office of the Chancellor recognizes the MPH program as one of 35 outstanding programs at UTK.
• 2000
  • MPH program receives an accreditation extension from CEPH.
• 2003
  • First Tennessee Public Health Workforce Development Consortium courses are offered in January. Students are public health employees within the state of Tennessee earning graduate credit for coursework online.
  • 1000th MPH student graduates from the program.
• 2004
  • Outstanding field preceptors are first recognized during National Public Health Week PUBH 509 seminary presentation.
  • Veterinary Public Health (VPH) MPH concentration is initiated, becoming the fifth MPH concentration to be approved.    Concentration developed in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine.

• 2005
  • VPH concentration graduates its first student.
• 2006
  •  Public Health Academic Program Committee begins inviting practitioners to participate in focused discussions on workforce development. First invitation is extended to directors from the East Tennessee Regional Health Office.
  • GEN concentration is discontinued in 2006; with the final student graduating in 2007.
• 2008
  • MPH program receives accreditation extension by CEPH.
• 2010
  • Department of Public Health was established in July 2010 as one of eight academic departments in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. Paul C. Erwin, DrPH, MD, is appointed the first Department Head.
  • 12-hour epidemiology minor (12 credit hours) is initiated.
• 2011
  • A 12-hour health policy certificate becomes available.
  • Kate White Emory Public Health Student Leadership Development Travel Fund is established by Asst. Prof. Margaret Knight, granddaughter of Kate White Emory, to assist with travel expenses for MPH students attending conferences or other professional meetings.  The fund continues until 2015.
  • Department of Public Health and the Knox County Health Department form the UT-Knox County Academic Health Department (AHD), the first AHD in Tennessee.
• 2012
  • One year anniversary of the AHD is celebrated.
• 2014
  • First student enrolls in the new JD/MPH degree program, a dual degree offered in cooperation with the University of Tennessee College of Law, that reflects the interrelationship between the legal system and the protection and promotion of the public’s health (the JD/MPH degree was eliminated in 2020-2022 due to low enrollment).
  • Undergraduate minor in public health is launched (program enrollment has grown to 200 declared students in 2022).
• 2015
  • DrPH degree starts (new admissions halted in fall 2018).
• 2016
  • MPH program receives accreditation extension by CEPH.
  • Dual Doctor of Veterinary Medicine / Master of Public Health (DVM/MPH) degree program launched in cooperation with the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine.
• 2020
  • PhD in Public Health Sciences is launched.
  • Epidemiology (EPI) MPH concentration becomes available.
• 2021
  • MPH for students in CHE, HPM, and VPH concentrations becomes available in a distance education (DE) format.
• 2022
  • Undergraduate Major in Public Health (BSPH) with a concentration in Population Health Sciences is launched.
• 2023
  • Two combined/accelerated programs begin: 1) an undergraduate public health minor paired with any BS or BA degree / MPH; and 2) a public health major / MPH degree. The combined accelerated degree is a competitive program that allows a select number of high performing undergraduates to pursue 9 graduate credits during senior year that count towards the 120 undergraduate degree and the 42-credit hour MPH degree.
  • New MPH concentration in Nutrition is launched.
  • Epidemiology concentration becomes available to DE MPH students.