September 23, 2013 — A statement from Dean Julio Frenk
I am extremely saddened to let you know that Elif Yavuz, ScD, a 2013 graduate of our Department of Global Health and Population, was among the victims of this weekend’s senseless violence at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya.
As an HSPH doctoral student, Elif completed her dissertation research on malaria in eastern Africa. Elif was Dutch, and had lived and worked abroad for many years, both in Africa and in Asia. She was currently working with the Applied Analytics Team at the Clinton Health Access Initiative and preparing her thesis for publication.
Elif and her partner, who was also a victim in the attack, were expecting their first child in early October.
As one of her colleagues here at HSPH said: “Elif brought laugher and love wherever she went. She lightened the lives of her HSPH colleagues and of the children she lived with in Uganda during her thesis work.”
Elif committed her career and her life to helping those in need. Her compassion was an inspiration to everyone she touched at HSPH and the broader global community in which she lived and worked. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
I know you join me in expressing heartfelt condolences to Elif’s family and to the GHP department’s faculty, staff, and students as they cope with this terrible loss.
Julio Frenk, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.
Dean of the Faculty, Harvard School of Public Health
T & G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development, Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School
photo: Carrie Svingen