Membership is highly selective and recognizes outstanding performance and devotion to the field of public health as well as to the protection and advancement of the health of all people.
History
The Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health was founded in 1924 at Johns Hopkins University within the School of Hygiene and Public Health (now the Bloomberg School of Public Health) by two graduate students, Dr. Edgar Erskine Hume and Dr. Claude W. Mitchell. At the time, public health as a profession was still in its infancy and, prior to the establishment of university-based education in public health, entrance into the field had been largely through practical experience and political favor. To promote the graduate study of the field, Dr. Hume and Dr. Mitchell organized this honorary society in order to recognize outstanding achievements in the new field.
