For over thirty years, Dr. Susan Klitzman, Senior Associate Dean for Administration, has brought vision and expertise to public health. Her career has been rooted in two of New York’s premier public health institutions: CUNY and the New York City Department with Health and Mental Hygiene, with many accomplishments in policy and program development research, teaching, student mentorship and administration. But among Klitzman’s proudest achievements was one that brought to bear all of her accumulated wisdom and skill: the “once-in-a-career opportunity” to help create the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.
Klitzman earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (1982, 1985) and a post-doctoral certificate from the University of Michigan (1987). Upon graduation, she led programs for 12 years as an environmental and occupational health epidemiologist at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). There, she spearheaded investigations and developed policies and programs to address a wide-range of environmental and occupational health hazards, from lead and mercury poisoning, to indoor allergens, to occupational fatalities and injuries and neighborhood cancer and other disease clusters.
While she had notable successes at the DOHMH, Klitzman was inspired to take on new challenges.
In 1999, Klitzman joined CUNY as a professor in Hunter College’s Urban Public Health Program.
Enhancing public health programs at CUNY
In 2006 the CUNY Chancellor announced the university would create a collaborative CUNY School of Public Health, with Hunter College as the lead institution. The new school would comprise the existing public health programs across four CUNY institutions: Hunter, Brooklyn, Lehman and the Graduate Center and focus on urban health. Soon after, Hunter’s dean called a group of senior faculty into a room and said that a faculty volunteer was needed to coordinate the complex academic work of creating a school. Klitzman raised her hand.
“This was a unique opportunity,” she says. “It had been over 70 years since the only school of public health in NYC had been established. In 2006, there were no public schools of public health in NYC. We had the potential to fill a unique niche as a public school with a focus on urban health that could offer high-quality affordable programs to students across several boroughs.”
CUNY SPH takes form
Faculty and senior administrators from each of the four campuses and the CUNY Central Office spearheaded the massive effort to create a new school, integrating and expanding the master of public health programs across three campuses, building a doctoral program, hiring faculty and staff, identifying best practices for running a consortial school, and developing a vision and a governance plan with representation from all four campuses. The CUNY School of Public Health launched in 2008.
In 2010 Klitzman became the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and in 2011, the School received full accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). It was an incredible achievement, but the consortium remained “a monster to administer,” and created logistical challenges for students, faculty, and staff. There were no central faculty, staff or students—all were housed at one of four campuses across three boroughs. There were no independent or centralized resources—all belonged to one of the campuses. It was challenging to forge a school-wide identity and to advance the school’s infrastructure to better support its faculty and students. In addition, it appeared that the current structure would not meet future accreditation requirements.
In 2013, the School’s first permanent dean, Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, was appointed following a national search. Dean El-Mohandes quickly recognized the School’s potential to become a leading center for training, applied scholarship and practice on urban health and health policy. Realizing this vision would require transforming the current consortial model into a streamlined and consolidated free-standing graduate school of public health. Klitzman quickly became Dean El-Mohandes’ right hand in this endeavor, and once again played a leading role in a complex, monumental, and ultimately successful transformation. In November of 2015, the CUNY Board of Trustees approved the transition to a single CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and the new independent CUNY college set its roots down at 55 West 125th Street. In April of 2016, the School in its new incarnation was re-accredited by CEPH for a full seven years.
Growing as a school and a community
In her current role as Senior Associate Dean for Administration, Klitzman is the Chief Operating Officer of the School. Over the past two years, she has led the creation of a comprehensive administrative infrastructure that makes the scholarly and educational mission of the school possible. Her responsibilities include space allocation, facilities, IT, public safety, human resources, and financial services—a daunting portfolio for anyone…with the possible exception of Klitzman herself. Her background as a former public health student, her experience as an administrator at the DOHMH, and her time as a faculty member at Hunter have all given her unique insight into the needs and aspirations of the various stakeholders at the school.
“If you look at the top ranked schools of public health in the nation, all have been in existence for decades. This tells us that creating a top-notch school requires an enduring commitment. You have to be in it for the long haul.”
While she looks back fondly on her time as a researcher and professor, Klitzman is filled with passion for where her work has led her. “It’s very exciting—challenging but with a lot of rewards,” Klitzman says. “To see some of our students go to CUNY from undergraduates to master’s to doctoral to graduates and now in leadership positions in academia and other organizations throughout the city—and to develop meaningful relationships with people in the process of achieving something that everyone believes in. I feel very fortunate to have that experience.”
