As a new cohort of public health professionals start their careers, some thoughts on the aspirations that guide our work.
TWe are in the midst of graduation season, which I have long considered to be the happiest time of the year. It is a joy to gather with graduates, family, and friends and wish the next generation of public health professionals well—as I had the privilege of doing last week at the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, where I serve as dean. The commitment of these graduates to the work of public health, and to the values that support this work, is a source of hope indeed, as much a sign of renewal as the flowers that accompany this time of year.
Graduation season is also a time when I find myself reflecting on the first principles, the aspirations that guide our mission, a mission this year’s public health graduates have now made their own. It is worth reflecting on these aspirations as a reminder of why we do what we do, and, on a perhaps deeper level, of the power of aspirations to endure through a range of historical moments, outlasting, and even changing for the better, times of challenge. It is important to recognize that public health, at its most essential, is a series of aspirations. An aspiration is simply something we are reaching towards, whether that is an idea, a manner of conducting ourselves, or a set of policies. This reaching is what helps us clear the distance between the world as it is and the world as it should be. Sometimes, the simple act of expressing our aspirations can help lay the groundwork for a better world, by setting a marker for future progress. This is perhaps most true in difficult moments, like the one public health is arguably now in, when it can be easier to see challenges than opportunities and when the distance between the world as it is and the world as it should be seems far indeed.
So, I would like to share some thoughts about the aspirations of public health in this moment. In keeping with the season, I will address these remarks to the public health graduates of 2026, with excitement for all they have achieved and for all they will do next.
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