STPM - History

The Complete Story of
the Creation and History of the
School of Tropical and Preventive Medicine
Loma Linda University
1948 to 1961

[Please Note - This post is a work in progress and under construction. It is the story of the STPM from the perspective of the life of it's co-founder, research director, Doctor Bruce W. Halstead and Raymond Ryckman PhD. It relies on his memoirs and the stated history of LLU from their website. This post will be updated with input from Ray Ryckman and any other participants with the School of Tropical and Preventive Medicine. If you have any pictures, stories, or other information that you can contribute, it would be greatly appreciated!]

Doctor Halstead's Vision for Loma Linda and for research at STPM - CLICK HERE

Later History
1961 to 1967

[From - "School of Public Health banquet celebrates School's 40th anniversary" by Heather Reifsnyder To Read Full Story - CLICK HERE]

The School of Public Health was officially started in 1967, with Mervyn G. Hardinge, MD, DrPH, as dean. It was the first private school of public health west of the Mississippi River. The School had been under development for three years, since the Board authorized its creation in 1964.

The School united three entities into one by consolidating the School of Nutrition and Dietetics, the School of Medicine’s department of preventive medicine, and the division of public health. The division of public health had been in existence since 1961; prior to that, it was called the School of Tropical and Preventive Medicine, formed in the late 1940s.

The School of Public Health received full accreditation from the American Public Health Association in June 1967. In the fall of 1967, the Association of Schools of Public Health voted to accept the new LLU School of Public Health as a full member.