In the past week, our Gillings School community lost two remarkable individuals, Phil Singer, PhD, emeritus professor of environmental sciences and engineering (ESE), and Travis Johnson, MD, MPH, associate professor in the Public Health Leadership Program, and founder and interim director of the Master of Public Health (MPH) Program’s Place-Based Health concentration in Asheville, N.C., our shared program with UNC Asheville and the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC).
I’m proud that our Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health ASPPH has a new policy that states that we have zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment. As the organization that represents academic public health, our commitment to zero tolerance is important. It also should be a message to any faculty or staff member whose behavior is less than honorable. Zero tolerance means no tolerance.
We are horrified by, and grieving over, the senseless mass shooting Tuesday evening at our sister university, UNC-Charlotte. Our sympathies are with the families and friends of the beloved students who lost their lives, and for those who were injured.
On Friday, April 12, we learned about a video from a musical performance at a three-day "Conflict over Gaza" conference held on campus in March 2019. We co-sponsored the conference, just as we co-sponsor many campus conferences for which we are not responsible (i.e., don't participate in planning; don't see the speaker list or agenda).
Thanksgiving 2018 In this message, I share observations from our annual World of Difference event, held November 8. The World of Difference dinner is our thank you to donors who generously support students, faculty and groundbreaking initiatives. This message is for those who attended and those who were not present. Throughout the evening, alumni told...
Kavanaugh hearings So much has been said and written about the special session in the Senate last week that was part of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. It was to be a time during which senators, their staffs and the public would hear from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford about her alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh when both were in high school. Both would make statements and respond to questions from a seasoned attorney. Whatever the outcome...
Transcendent power of last messages In September 2007, people in academia and beyond were moved by the last lecture of Dr. Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design. Knowing he was suffering from incurable pancreatic cancer, Pausch wanted to leave students and colleagues with last words about life from...
