Fairfield Egan Honors Inaugural Delta Omega Inductees

The School of Nursing's Public Health program recognized high-achieving students, alumni, and faculty at an end-of-the-year celebration.

On Saturday, May 20, Fairfield’s Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies inducted its inaugural group of honorees into the University’s newly established Epsilon Omega Chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health.

Founded in 1924 at Johns Hopkins University, the prestigious national honor society encourages research and scholarship among graduate-level public health students and recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of public health. Membership, which can include students, faculty, alumni, and honorary inductees, is based on high academic standards and outstanding performance in scholarship, teaching, research, and community service.

Since its inception, Delta Omega has expanded to more than 127 chapters and has more than 20,000 members from top echelons of graduate schools and programs of public health, as well as the public health community. 

The inaugural list of Fairfield University inductees include high-achieving public health majors Giorgi Kuparadze ’23, Payton Matthews ’23, and Julianna Sinotte ’24; alumnus Arion Mete, BS ‘21, MPH; faculty members Kimberly Doughty, PhD, MPH, CHES, assistant public health professor, and Jessica Alicea-Planas, RN, PhD, MPH, CHES, associate professor of nursing; and honorary community awardee Tiffany Donalson, MPH, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation and member of Fairfield University’s newly formed Public Health Stakeholder Council.

“Throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world has come to realize the importance of preparing strong public health professionals,” said Meredith Wallace Kazer, PhD, APRN, FAAN, professor and dean of the Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, “and at the Egan School, we are an essential part of this effort. We are honored to launch the Epsilon Omega Chapter of the Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society, and while our contributions to the field of public health are new, they will undoubtedly have tremendous impact on worldwide efforts for many years in the future."

After Fairfield Egan’s Bachelor of Science in Public Health program earned accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health earlier this year, the University received approval to start its own local chapter of the national honor society, Epsilon Omega. Starting in 2025, the ceremony will honor both bachelor’s in public health and master’s of public health students.

 To learn more about Fairfield’s public health programs, visit fairfield.edu/egan.

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