Events 2015

[Winter 2016]

Leadership Council Annual Meeting
From Cells to Cell Phones
The annual summit of the School’s Leadership Council on October 29 and 30 explored the role that communication plays in improving lives across the globe. The keynote presentation featured former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and the School’s work on “swarm intelligence” during crises, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Faculty sessions focused on communicating with the public about health threats, the use of mobile phone data in infectious disease research, and how to harness small behavioral nudges to influence health decisions.

Fellowship Celebration
On April 8, the Fellowship Celebration honored the School’s most generous supporters of financial aid. Individuals and organizations that made gifts of $10,000 or more to student aid in the past year, and donors who have established endowed financial aid funds in the past, met School leaders as well as the students who benefit from their extraordinary contributions.

T.H. Chan Portrait Unveiling
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health kicked off the celebration of the first Commencement under its new name on May 27 with the unveiling of a portrait of the late T.H. Chan. Chan’s family established The Morningside Foundation, which made the transformational naming gift in September 2014. Members of the School’s community packed Rosenau Atrium in the Kresge Building to watch former Dean Julio Frenk unveil the portrait with the help of painter Everett Raymond Kinstler.

Leadership Council Regional Event Breaking the Cycle: Mothers, Children, and Malnutrition
Wafaie Fawzi, MPH ’89, SM ’91, DrPH ’92, Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population Sciences and chair of the Department of Global Health and Population, discussed the innovative ways the School is helping break the cycle of malnutrition for the world’s most vulnerable families in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The San Francisco event was hosted by Roger L. Barnett, MBA ’91, chair- man and CEO of Shaklee Corporation.

Alumni Weekend
Overcoming Health Disparities: Achieving Health Equity
Some 130 alumni returned to the School on October 2 and 3 to reconnect with former classmates, network, and learn more about current research in public health. Physicians Cheryl Whitaker, MPH ’94, and Eric Whitaker, MPH ’93, presented the opening lecture on health disparities and health care. Other speakers included Yvette Roubideaux, AB ’85, MD ’89, MPH ’97, former senior adviser to the secretary for American Indians and Alaska Natives, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. See page 10 for this year’s alumni award recipients.

Inaugural Luncheon of the 1913
Society The Most Influential Investment
On June 11, the inaugural event recognizing individuals who have created a planned gift or a bequest for the School featured a keynote address by 1913 Society Chair Barry Bloom, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson Professor of Public Health. Bloom discussed investing in the School through legacy giving to help effect cures for and solutions to major health problems, including infectious diseases such as Ebola and tuberculosis. Society members Stephen Kay, AB ’56, MBA ’58, and Michael Voligny offered opening remarks.

Richard Menschel
Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy
Longtime supporter of the School Richard Menschel, MBA ’59, was honored along with his brother Robert with a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. They were among eight recipients rec- ognized by Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the other members of the Carnegie family of institutions, for visionary philanthropy embodying the spirit of Andrew Carnegie.

For more than 20 years, Menschel and his wife, Ronay, have made the School one of their top philanthropic priorities. Their support includes a $12.5 million gift to establish the Transforming Public Health Education Initiative, which helped the School update its master’s degree program for health professionals and create a new doctor of public health degree.

— Amy Roeder

Photos: Emily Cuccarese/ Harvard Chan School; Kent Dayton/ Harvard Chan School; Filip Wolak