It began when, in 1914, the university received an endowment from the Lauder Greenway Family to establish a chair in public health at the Yale Medical School.

This chair was filled a year later by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, who was and is still considered to be the “founder of public health” at Yale.

Due to three decades of Winslow's leadership and innovative foresight and commitment to interdisciplinary education, the department's academic programs earned recognition as a nationally accredited School of Public Health in 1946.

In 1964, EPH moved into its own building, the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public Health (LEPH), which was designed by Philip Johnson and continues as the primary location for teaching and research.

In 1964, the Arbovirus Research Unit of the Rockefeller Foundation moved to the Yale School of Public Health.

It was at the Yale Arbovirus Research Unit (YARU) that Jordi Casals discovered and named the Lassa virus in 1969.

[4] In July 2023, Megan Ranney began her term as dean of the Yale School of Public Health.

[7] YSPH students may take classes at the college and several of the University's graduate or professional schools if they find them relevant to their course of study.

The incoming MPH class of 2020 consisted of 206 students (29% male, 71% female, 17% diversity population, and 32% international), and represented 112 schools and 31 states.

Passing grades indicate that students are capable of performing competently in this domain as public health professionals.

A grade of Fail should be assigned to students who cannot demonstrate an acceptable understanding of the core ideas, methods, or other class material and thus lack competence in this domain of public health.