The Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, the only accredited school of public health in the state, was established at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2001 with financial proceeds from voter Initiated Act 1 of 2000, the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act. The act was a public recognition of the need to address health promotion and disease prevention in the state.
In 2005, the University of Arkansas (UA) Board of Trustees (BOT) renamed the college to honor Fay W. Boozman, M.D., MPH, Arkansas’ state health officer from 1998 until his untimely death in March 2005. Boozman was a strong advocate for the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act and for including the College of Public Health in the act. He also was a significant leader in fostering the collaborative relationship that continues to grow and develop between the college and the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH).
The college’s mission honors the intent of Act I, which is to improve the health and promote the well-being of individuals, families and communities in Arkansas through education, research and service. The vision of the college is optimal health for all Arkansans. The College of Public Health defines health as physical, psychological and communal well-being. This definition recognizes the social nature of health, in that individual health is intrinsically dependent on the health of the family and the community.
To achieve its mission, the college has 66 primary and secondary faculty, 13 adjunct faculty, 74 staff, most of whom are employed on research projects, 22 graduate assistants, and seven postdoctoral fellows.
The educational mission of the College of Public Health is to train the next generations of public health scientists and practitioners. To achieve this mission, the college provides graduate and post-graduate public health education through 23 certificate and degree programs. In addition to the traditional public health disciplines, the certificate and degree programs include maternal and child health; climate, rural, and global public health; health services and systems research; and health promotion and prevention research. These programs are housed in five departments:
- Epidemiology (MPH, Ph.D.)
- Biostatistics (MPH)
- Health Behavior & Health Education (MPH, Ph.D.)
- Health Policy & Management (MPH, Ph.D.)
- Healthcare Administration (MHA, and MHA in medical laboratory science)
- Healthcare Analytics (M.S.)
- Environmental Health Sciences (Certificate, MPH, Ph.D.)
The college has 339 students. About two-fifth of the college’s students are members of minority groups (41%) and nearly a third (31%) are native Arkansans who are from one of Arkansas’ rural counties. Overall, the college has students from 44 of the state’s 75 counties.
Public Health research is largely focused on surveillance and prevention of disease. As of 2024, college faculty receive more than $14 million annually in grants and contracts. The college has five research centers that focus faculty research on specific public health topics. The centers are:
- Arkansas Center for Excellence in Birth Defects Research and Prevention
- The Arkansas Center for Women’s Health (a CDC Prevention Research Center)
- Center for Research, Health and Social Justice
- Center for the Study of Obesity
- Center for the Study of Tobacco