Annual giving supports research, education and practice at UNC Gillings. Members of our community helped reach a historic $4.25 billion milestone. Hear what inspires them to give.
Nancy McGee, DrPH
DrPH, 2011. San Francisco, California. Principal in Healthcare and Life Sciences Practice at Heidrick & Struggles.
“Giving to Gillings can offer people who are interested in public health the opportunity to get an excellent education. The Doctor of Public Health remote program — where you could engage a diverse set of executives and allow them to pursue their careers while getting one of the best public health educations in the country, from their homes — was an amazing gift.”
Carl Yoshizawa, PhD
Biostatistics, 1984. San Ramon, California Retired. Former VP of Biostatistics and Data Management at Genomic Health, a company (since acquired by Exact Sciences) that developed genomic laboratory tests to help guide treatment decisions for patients with cancer.
“I am grateful for the education I received, which enabled me to enjoy a career that was meaningful and leveraged my talents. I value the good work that the School continues to do, and am proud to be an alumnus.”
Emily Newman, MPH, and Kathryn Carpenter, MPH
Both are MPH, Health Behavior, 2020. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Co-founders of Newman Carpenter, a creative agency impacting health behavior change.
“We want to support the students who run the Minority Health Conference as they work to grow and evolve the conference, and highlight the efforts of practitioners and community members who work to improve the health of all communities.”
Deborah (Debbie) Winn, PhD
Epidemiology, 1980. Silver Spring, Maryland. Retired in 2021 after serving in several leadership roles with the federal government, particularly the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute.
“As the oldest of 12 siblings, having financial support was essential for me to be able to attend graduate school. Gillings provided me that support through a training grant and other resources during graduate school. I am still grateful and want as many students as possible to have the opportunities that I did.”
Amir and Asra Firozvi
Raleigh and Littleton, North Carolina. Asra, an ophthalmologist who specializes in glaucoma, is president of the ophthalmology division of North Carolina Eye Ear Nose & Throat in Durham. Amir is an internal medicine physician.
“Each of us had a parent who recently passed away. Both of them were involved in their local communities and were immigrants from developing countries. Public health and epidemiology are vital to the developing world. We wanted to honor them by donating to a cause that would have effects locally and internationally.”
