In the spring of 1997, in concert with efforts of other schools within the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, the Rollins School of Public Health undertook the development of a series of strategic plans on teaching, research, and service. The primary objective of this planning process was to create a blueprint for our future as one of the top health sciences centers in this country.

At the beginning of the RSPH process, a committee composed of faculty from throughout the school gathered benchmark information and conducted a series of town hall meetings with faculty and students. Their final report identified both internal and external strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth. Among our strengths, they found a committed and productive faculty with outstanding credentials, excellent facilities, collegial and collaborative relationships within the university, and proximity to public health resources in Atlanta. Our challenges included extensive pressure on faculty to secure external funding, the need for additional development and bridge funding for research, and a need for additional faculty in each department.

The planning has provided impetus for us to build on our strengths and turn weaknesses into opportunities. One goal, to increase our faculty size to ensure a critical mass for research and teaching in major disciplines of public health, is under way. For example, we've recently recruited Kenneth Thorpe as the Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management. In the School Sampler section of this issue, you'll read about new promising junior faculty as well as seasoned senior faculty who recently have brought their talents and dedication to our school. Our cover story focuses on two of these recent faculty additions, Ralph J. DiClemente and Gina Wingood, nationally known experts in adolescent and minority health and HIV prevention who joined our faculty last summer. Ralph has joined us as Candler Professor and Chair of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education.

Our strategic goals also rededicate our commitment to teaching with plans to support a teaching center and with growth of new programs and degrees. Recently, in the pages of this magazine, you've read about the Career MPH, which allows working professionals to earn a degree while maintaining full-time jobs. In this issue, we introduce another new degree, the Master of Science in Clinical Research, offered in collaboration with Emory School of Medicine and targeted initially at Emory clinicians who wish to pursue careers in clinical investigation and evaluation. Still, another new program at the school is the Master's International Program, which will link academic study to overseas field work, allowing Master of Public Health students to serve as Peace Corps volunteers in a health related field after completion of their course work.

We are well on our way to implementing our strategic plans, plans that will ensure that our growth keeps us focused on making the best possible contribution to the public's health both in Atlanta and throughout the nation and the world.

JAMES W. CURRAN, MD, MPH
Dean