Our History
In 1918-1919, the University of Maryland's Graduate School [1] was founded, marking a significant milestone in our institution's history. With just twelve students and five departments, we embarked on a journey of providing advanced, interdisciplinary education to future generations of health scientists, striving to place the quality of work on par with the best graduate schools in the nation. Students didn't just study in classrooms; they engaged in substantial research at prestigious institutions like the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other accredited research labs, experience which accepted as partial fulfillment of the resident requirement for future degrees. In 1924, our Baltimore campus awarded its first master's degrees[2], followed by our inaugural Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1933. [3]
The Graduate School Today
Today, the Graduate School continues to dive deep into the world of biomedical, health, and human service sciences. We offer Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree programs, plus certificate programs for those eager to specialize without the commitment of a full degree.
As a part of Maryland’s public health, law, and human services university, we’re big on collaboration. We’ve teamed up with UMB’s six professional schools to offer combined degrees like PhD/MD, PhD/PharmD, and PhD/DDS, and joined forces with other University System of Maryland campuses for inter-institutional studies in biochemistry and gerontology.
During their time at the Graduate School, our students do more than coursework. All doctoral students are actively engaged in research with faculty members to address some of society's most pressing problems and biomedical research's most challenging questions in basic and translational research. These innovative efforts, supported by research grants and contracts, are undertaken collaboratively with the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the University of Maryland Medical Center, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Institutes for Human Virology, and others.
We're not just learning - we're making a real impact.