Admissions Blog

Do you know where this is?

I’ll give you a hint, it’s the atrium above my favorite room in the Wolfe Street building.

Or rather, one of two favorite rooms.

The North and South Reading Rooms

In 2004, the School of Public Health opened a 200,000-square-foot  expansion of the Wolfe Street Building. This new wing included amenities we now take for granted: a coffee shop, the fitness center, the auditorium, new offices and laboratories.

Also included in the expansion were two identical reading rooms, each 2,700 square feet with four-story atriums allowing natural light to illuminate those below.

The reading rooms are a quiet place to review class notes, catch up on your reading or – ahem - edit your latest blog post.

Perhaps I’ll see you there!

Do you know where and/or what this is?

It’s a photo of William Welch’s luggage and one of his notebooks. You can find it in one of two glass cases across from Sheldon Hall (our second largest lecture hall).

The cases house a number of public health artifacts: William Welch’s microscope, George Comstock’s UNICEF bag and an early 20^th Century biostatistics calculating machine. There are vials, beakers and photos from various points on the timeline of public health.

It’s a mini museum right here in our own building.

Next time you’re here, take a look.

The Admissions staff is enamored with two relatively new additions to our building.

They’re water bottle filling stations!

Okay, maybe that doesn’t sound very exciting to you, but these stations are part of the School’s efforts toward sustainability.

In public health, we’re taught that bottled water is expensive, terrible for the environment and not better for you. Filling stations like these make cold, filtered tap water more convenient and easier to access than bottled water.

All you need is your own reusable container!

The current filling stations are on the second floor, across from the lavatories near the coffee shop and on the sixth floor, about halfway down the inner, east hall.

Rumor has it more are on their way.

Do you know where this is?

More importantly, do you know who this is?

It’s William Henry Welch, a founder of the Bloomberg School and leader in public health. He was called “Popsy” by his friends and students and “our greatest statesman in the field of public health” by President Hoover.

You can learn more about Dr. Welch and his many accomplishments under Heroes of Public Health.

The plaque is located just inside the Wolfe Street entrance to the School of Public Health.