The Center for Biostatistics and Epidemiology was established on July 01, 1988, and evolved into the Department of Health Evaluation Sciences on July 01, 1997. It was renamed the Department of Public Health Sciences (PHS) on July 01, 2007. PHS has four divisions, namely the Division of Biostatistics, the Division of Epidemiology, the Division of Health Services Research, and the Center for Nutrition & Activity Promotion.

The founding chair of the Department of Health Evaluation Sciences was Mark J. Young, M.D. During his tenure as department chair, faculty members increased from 5 to 17, staff increased from 38 to 60, the budget increased from $1.9 to $4.7 million and extramural funding increased from $0.9 to $3.5 million. Dr. Young provided exemplary vision and leadership for the department until he resigned as chair on June 30, 2003, to devote more attention to other leadership positions at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Dr. Young remained as full professor in the department until his death in April 2004.