2021 Alumni Medalist Nina Rothschild '86BC, '90GSAS, '92, '00PH
Channel: Columbia Alumni
Date: 2022-05-26

Nina Rothschild is a Health and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in the Division of Disease Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH), where she has been immersed in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has worked at DOHMH in several positions since graduating from the Mailman School of Public Health: in the Bureau of Maternal, Infant, and Reproductive Health; in HIV Prevention; and in HIV Community Planning. She currently is a member of the Informatics, Data, and Outbreak Response Team in the Division of Disease Control. Her education at Mailman prepared her for the challenges of working at a big city health department—but public health first intrigued her way back during her junior year at Barnard College where she took courses including Women, Health, and Health Care and Caring for the Mentally Ill: Treatment and Policy.

 She was an English major, but these two courses captured her attention more than English literature did.  Although her subsequent degree was an MA in English Literature from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, one of her most amazing courses was on Reporting Ethical Issues in Science and Medicine at Columbia Journalism School. She enrolled at Mailman and was incredibly excited to study under the excellent faculty while pursuing her MPH and DrPH. Rothschild serves on the Mailman School Alumni Board and chaired the first Development and Governance Committees. Being a goodwill ambassador for the School came naturally. She is a past President of the Public Health Association of NYC, an organization that subsequently merged with the New York State Public Health Association.