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Boston College will offer a new major in Global Public Health and the Common Good, adding to a popular program that counts more than 100 students enrolled in its minor or pursuing the degree independently.

Under the leadership of the program鈥檚 founding director, Professor of Biology Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., and administered by the Connell School of Nursing in partnership with the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, the major is expected to eventually enroll approximately 45 students, who must apply for acceptance into the highly competitive program.

The new major reflects Boston College's ongoing commitment to the sciences, one of the key priorities expressed in the University's 2017 Strategic Plan.

Philip Landrigan, M.D., far right, with seniors Ella Whitman, Michael Britt, and Naomi Alter, and junior Sebastian Cota, undergraduates pursuing Global Public Health and the Common Good as an independent major. (Lee Pellegrini)

The Global Public Health major joins the six-course public health minor that was launched in 2018 and now enrolls 110 students. There are currently 13 students pursuing an independent major in public health with approval from the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Landrigan said.

鈥淭he excitement level is off the charts,鈥� said Landrigan, a 1963 alumnus who returned to his alma mater to help advance early efforts to bring public health programming to students. 鈥淎s far as I鈥檓 concerned, this is a dream come true. This is what many people鈥攑articularly [Vice Provost for Research and Academic Planning] Thomas Chiles and the late [School of Social Work Dean] Alberto Godenzi鈥濃�攈ave been talking about since 2014. The first steps began before I got here and we have taken it in stages since.鈥�

While BCSSW dean and later as associate vice president for global engagement, Godenzi advocated for a range of programs to expand BC鈥檚 global reach. Landrigan said he began discussing the program with Chiles, who is also the DeLuca Professor of Biology, in 2014.