Katherine Lang

Public Health, Class of 2026

• Minor: Business Administration
• Hometown: Charlotte, NC
• Activities at Rutgers: Team Captain, Rutgers Women’s Swimming and Diving; Vice President, Rutgers Student Athlete Advisory Committee, 2024-25; President, Rutgers Student Athlete Advisory Committee, 2025-26

Katherine Lang never imagined that a cold email to a swim coach would shape her entire college experience. But after sending out her times, GPA, and SAT scores to dozens of coaches, she received a response from Rutgers’ Coach Jon Maccoll—and everything changed.

“I’m from North Carolina and had never heard of Rutgers before,” she said. “I took an official visit and fell in love with the program. Once I had heard that I got into the Honors College, I knew immediately that this was the place for me.”

A public health major with a minor in business administration, Katherine is a Division I student-athlete, a world traveler, and a dedicated member of the Bloustein School community. She credits Rutgers with helping her grow in ways she never anticipated.

“Rutgers has given me more than I ever thought possible,” she said. “It has shown me a level of excellence in both my academic and athletic careers that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

Katherine began as a chemistry major on a pre-med track. She was drawn to health, but not necessarily clinical practice. “I always wanted to be in a career where I felt like I was genuinely helping others. After my sophomore year, I realized that I wanted to be involved in the healthcare sphere but I didn’t necessarily want to practice medicine,” she said.

“I switched my major to public health, picked up a minor in business administration, and learned about the seemingly hundreds of career paths outside of medicine that I had never considered before.”

It wasn’t until she changed her major that Katherine discovered the Bloustein School. Once she began exploring its offerings, everything clicked. One course, in particular, helped her reimagine what public health could be. “I took Global Health Perspectives with Professor Manan Shah my junior year. Two of my best friends were in that class and we all loved it,” she said. “It was the first time we had ever viewed public health through a global lens and saw how vast of a field it really is. It was eye-opening.”

When not in practices, meets, or class Katherine, a competitive swimmer since the age of 7, is studying for the LSAT with plans to pursue law school. She hopes to combine her background in public health with a law degree and eventually work in healthcare administration. “I think this plan is a great combination of all my interests and it is something that I feel like I can make a difference in,” she said.

When she’s not studying or swimming, Katherine coaches kids swim lessons at Scarlet Aquatics, a club team run out of Rutgers. Her other passion is travel. “I love to visit new places and experience different cultures. The swim team at Rutgers is very diverse and there are many international student-athletes. I love to travel with them whenever I get the chance,” she said, and she’s traveled with teammates to places like São Paulo, Bali, Jakarta, and London.

“Experiencing different parts of the world and understanding how different cultures view life is an invaluable experience,” she said. “It has definitely shaped me into the person I am today, and is definitely a reason why I am interested in public health.”

To future Bloustein students, she offers this advice: “Do everything. Meet everyone. You will never regret trying to make a friend, or attending an event, or reaching out about an academic opportunity. There is so much available at Rutgers—you only have to be brave enough to reach out and grab it.”