The school officially opened on July 1, 2008, following decades of dedicated development. Planning for the school was initiated by a partnership of public health practitioners, academics, and business leaders. The partnership formed an official taskforce in 2002 in order to develop a strategic plan and seek the funding necessary to open a school of public health. The task force was successful and instrumental in the decision to open the school as a collaboration. In late 2007, each of our partnering university presidents or chancellors signed a memorandum of agreement to open the Colorado School of Public Health, and a founding dean, Richard Hamman, MD, DrPH, was appointed. Within months the Colorado School of Public Health admitted its first class of students, setting the stage for growth and future development. Among those developments, the school received full accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) in October 2010.
Today ColoradoSPH has more than 600 degree-seeking students, with more than 150 full-time faculty across the three university campuses. Each day the school finds new and innovative ways to expand its work, build partnerships, and achieve the goal of a healthier region and world.