Near the end of each academic year, School of Public Health faculty, staff, students, families and friends look forward to honoring our outstanding students through the SPH Convocation.

Congratulations to the two University of Maryland School of Public Health students who won prizes for this year’s Do Good Challenge!

Congratulations to two University of Maryland School of Public Health students who are among the finalists for this year’s virtual Do Good Challenge: Sara Hatfield, a double major in behavioral and community health and family science, and Veeraj Shah, who is pursuing dual degrees in biological sciences and individual studies majoring in health policy and technology. 

Over 24 hours on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, the University of Maryland School of Public Health community came together virtually to support our research initiatives, scholarships and educational programs. 278 donors—alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students—gave a total of $220,724, an increase of more than 137 percent from the previous year. That placed the School of Public Health at #2 on the leaderboard after Athletics for most funds raised during Giving Day.

Gabrielle Frohlich is the founder of an internship in partnership with the Victor Center Community Health Awareness (Education) Initiative (CHAI) at Nicklaus Children's Hospital. The initiative’s mission is to increase genomic literacy among and access to prenatal genetic testing for college communities and their campuses’ surrounding populations.

The University of Maryland School of Public Health has joined CommuniVax, a new research coalition funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to strengthen the community’s role and involvement in an equitable vaccination campaign. 

Why is America losing the war on gun violence? A new book, co-edited by Dr. Woodie Kessel, a professor of the practice at the University of Maryland School of Public Health details why. Why We Are Losing the War on Gun Violence in the U.S. explores several “principles of war” in regards to the public health perspectives about issues and solutions amid the gun violence epidemic nationwide.

The university celebrated the accomplishments of our graduates in a virtual commencement ceremony on Sunday, December 20. The main ceremony can be viewed on the UMD Facebook and YouTube channels. Graduates are encouraged to share their photos and memories on social media using #UMDgrad. SPH graduates should also use #publichealthTerps and tag @UMDPublicHealth. See Public Health Terps' photos and reflections and join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram!

2020 sparked the Black Lives Matter movement into a global force with the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 

While a COVID-19 vaccine could be available in a matter of weeks, offering much-needed hope at the end of a grim and challenging year, a University of Maryland expert urges public health leaders and other authorities to begin communicating about the approval process and the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness right away.