“My father, Leonid Snegireff, MD, earned both his master’s degree (in 1939) and doctorate (in 1942) at the School of Public Health, and he later became a professor there. He was one of the first scientists to link lung cancer and cigarette smoking, publishing a paper on the topic in the early 1950s. At the time, this was very new, and there was obvious opposition to his findings. But he had the courage of his convictions and went about his business studying links between cancer, chemicals, and radiation.
“I have always wanted to honor my father at HSPH, and this gift is my way of doing that. Public health is tremendously underfunded, and yet it makes an enormous difference in global well-being. We are extremely blessed in this country, and I think it is important that those of us who live in a country that is blessed give back.”
—Sergei Snegireff
“As Sergei and I talked about his father’s legacy, I came to a much greater understanding of how critical public health is to the entire world. I sometimes think it should be called something other than ‘public health,’ because people often think of public health as being limited to initiatives such as free vaccines. In fact, it is so much more than that—it touches every aspect of our lives. All of us need to be educated regarding what public health is, so that we can more fully appreciate its benefits.”
— Sandi Snegireff
Sergei and Sandi Snegireff’s planned gift will establish the Leonid Sergius Snegireff Fellowship in honor of Sergei’s father