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A LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

We are devastated by the historic Los Angeles fires impacting our community. A number of our alumni and faculty have lost their homes. Our hearts go out to all those affected. Please know you are in our thoughts, and we will make it through this together. Please click here for resources for the Bruin community to give and receive aid and reach out to us directly if you wish to contribute to immediate recovery efforts.

The fires are a public health emergency, and they put a great strain on resources. We are so proud of the important work our students and alumni are doing in public health. If you are considering pursuing your master’s degree in public health or healthcare administration, we encourage you to take action. The world needs your care, expertise, and leadership.

We are thrilled to announce we are growing our team in the Executive Programs Office. Please join us in welcoming Sarah Tran, ExecHPM Program Coordinator. A UCR graduate with experience at SCAN Health Plan, Sarah is already demonstrating leadership skills and taking on projects to streamline our operations. 

We have officially started accepting applications for our Fall 2025 EMPH cohort and are introducing the program to interested applicants in our live Info Session webinars, scheduled throughout winter and spring. UCLA employees will receive $2,500 annually toward their tuition. Alumni, if you have a referral, please contact me or Student Affairs Officer Monica Boerger, as we offer a referral fee. Our first review of applications begins February 1st and we will continue to review applications on the first of each month until the cohort is full. 

With 50 new students who enrolled in the online MHA program over Fall and Winter, the program is going strong. We welcomed an impressive 40 students to campus in October for MHA Fall Immersion, including MHA Candidate and First Lady of Sierra Leone, Her Excellency Fatima Maada Bio. It was a wonderful week of team building, professional development, and camaraderie. We are so pleased with the number of ExecHPM graduates who attended the MHA Immersion Farewell Reception, as well. Our corner of the FSPH community continues to grow stronger every day. 

It was great to see so many of you take advantage of the invitation to attend the HPMSA Alumni Mixer on October 18 at the UCLA Faculty Club. Looking around the room, it was so nice to see EMPH and MHA students and graduates socializing with the larger FSPH HPM community. The bonds you form positively impact the field of public health, and we’re so proud of the role each of you play. 

Congratulations to the MHA Students and Year 2 EMPH Students who completed their capstone. It was an honor to sit in on the EMPH student applied consulting presentations in November. Your findings are a testament to your honed insights, knowledge, and passion for public health.

We are proud to say that Professor Jonathan Freedman, MSPH ’91, has joined the FSPH Hall of Fame with the Lester Breslow Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrated at the Induction Dinner on October 23rd. Professor Freedman is a graduate of FSPH and we’ve been fortunate to have him teaching in the EMPH Program since 2018.

It’s hard to believe but the HPMAA “Leaders of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow” Annual Awards Dinner is just a few months away, coming up on Tuesday, May 20th. We are excited to say that former EMPH Director, Leah J. Vriesman, Ph.D., MHA, MBA, the Associate Dean of Academic & Faculty Affairs at UCLA Extension and Professor in the HPM Department, has been selected as the 2025 Ira Alpert Service Awardee. We are looking forward to honoring her at the dinner, celebrating our students who will be joining the honors societies of Delta Omega and Upsilon Phi Delta, and celebrating the EMPH Sinaiko Business Plan Awardees. The annual event brings together industry leaders and the UCLA public health community.

Wishing everyone a successful winter quarter and you’ll be hearing from us again in April with our Spring Quarterly Update.

All my best,

Kyle Sullivan, MSW 
Director, Executive Programs in HPM
Interim Director, EMPH Program