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Behind the frieze

Twenty-six names form the frieze on the exterior of LSHTM's Keppel Street building.

Twenty-three names formed the original frieze on the exterior of LSHTM's Keppel Street building. Mystery surrounds the reasoning behind their selection which was made by a committee of unknown constitution who pondered deeply on which of the names of the great and good in the fields of hygiene and tropical medicine merited such public acclaim.

The names were also all those of men. So, to celebrate our 120th anniversary in 2019 we gained special permission to add three new names to the façade of our Grade II listed building to reflect the diversity of global talent in public health, medicine and the health sciences.

The names - selected from suggestions made by our staff community - are all from an era in keeping with the building, which opened in 1929. We were proud to announce the addition of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Florence Nightingale, and Alice Ball.