unc gillings school of global public health unc gillings school of global public health the unc gillings school of global public health is the public health school at the university of north carolina at chapel hill, a public research university in chapel hill, north carolina. it offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and is accredited by the council on education for public health. unc gillings school of global public healthformer nameunc school of public healthpreceding agencyunc division of public health (1936-1939)typepublic public health schoolestablished1940 (1940)parent institutionuniversity of north carolina at chapel hilldeannancy messonnieracademic staff547students1,545doctoral students535locationchapel hill, north carolina, united stateswebsitesph.unc.edu in 2020, the institution was ranked the best public school and second best school overall in the u.s. news & world report ranking of american schools of public health. among schools of public health, the school receives the third most funding in nih awards. history the unc division of public health was organized in 1936 within the unc school of medicine. separate status as a school of public health was granted in 1940, making the school the first school of public health established within a state university. the school awarded its first graduate degrees in 1940. milton rosenau became the first director of the division of public health in 1936 and served as the first dean of the school from 1939 to 1946. in 1949, both the unc school of dentistry and unc school of nursing were added. along with the schools of public health, medicine and pharmacy, the five schools formally became the university's division of health affairs. it is named after donors joan gillings and dennis gillings, a former unc professor and the founder of iqvia. in 2020, the school focused its resources on combating the spread of the covid-19 global pandemic, with various research teams tackling a broad range of topics including vaccines, testing, epidemiology, biostatistics, health policy and more. academics in 2018, the gillings school launched its online master of public health program. notable faculty mandy cohen, physician and health official clarence lushbaugh, physician and pathologist william l. roper, dean emeritus, 12th director of the cdc alumni lisa bodnar (m.p.h. 1999), vice-chair for research, university of pittsburgh julie story byerley (m.p.h. 1998), vice dean for education, unc school of medicine garry conille (m.p.h. 1999), 15th prime minister of haiti renee m. johnson (m.p.h. 1998, ph.d. 2004), researcher and academic, johns hopkins bloomberg school of public health jonathan j. juliano (m.p.h.1997), researcher and academic, unc school of medicine jerry m. linenger (m.p.h. 1989, ph.d. 1989), former captain in the u.s. navy medical corps, and former nasa astronaut heather munroe-blum (ph.d.), former principal and vice-chancellor, mcgill university vann r. newkirk ii (m.sc. 2012), staff writer, the atlantic rob wittman (m.p.h. 1990), u.s. representative for virginia's 1st congressional district