UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has created charitable funds in memory of beloved professors, established by friends, former students and colleagues.
Several beloved members of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health faculty have inspired charitable funds in honor of their legacies. In each case, friends, former students and colleagues of the esteemed professors ran fundraising campaigns and advocated the creation of these funds.
Honoring Geni Eng
Geni Eng, DrPH, is a professor emerita of health behavior at the Gillings School whose work has been celebrated for its community-mindedness. Eng has led efforts to address health inequities through her research, which includes the five-year ACCURE (Accountability for Cancer Care through Undoing Racism and Equity) study.
The Geni Eng Community Equity Award and Lecture Fund seeks to honor Eng by providing one student award and sponsoring an annual community-based lecture.
Edith Parker, DrPH, dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa and a former student of Eng’s, said, “This fund reinforces the importance of the community-engaged approach that Geni is so committed to. It recognizes the tremendous role that communities play in students’ education and honors the time-consuming work that students put into community research.”
Remembering John Cassel
After working as a physician in health clinics in Black African communities in South Africa, John Cassel, MD, MPH, served as the first permanent, full-time chair of the Gillings School’s Department of Epidemiology. Cassel fought for more inclusive public health measures that account for social determinants of adverse health and respond to the needs of vulnerable communities.
The John Cassel Scholarship Endowment Fund seeks to honor that legacy by supporting doctoral students in epidemiology with particular attention to enhancing the social, economic and cultural diversity of the Gillings student body. This support will allow them to focus on completing their final year of dissertation research without financial burdens.
“John Cassel was easily 40 years ahead of his time. He was recruiting women into the doctoral program in the 1970s and was researching social injustice and the exposures accounting for multiple health conditions before that was a topic of discussion,” said Michele Forman, PhD, former head of nutrition science at Purdue University, current president of the American College of Epidemiology Foundation and former student of Cassel’s. “My hope is that the students benefiting from this fund will learn more about John Cassel and help carry on his legacy.”
Celebrating the Work of Susan Ennett
Susan Ennett, PhD, recently retired after decades of teaching health behavior. A passionate teacher and mentor, Ennett was committed to building a program that provided students with holistic support along with the necessary career skills and expertise.
The Susan T. Ennett Doctoral Scholarship will support doctoral students in the Department of Health Behavior, with a special emphasis on the first year of a student’s doctoral program.
“Susan Ennett was my faculty advisor and chair of my dissertation committee, so I saw firsthand that she is keenly aware of the burdens and needs of doctoral students,” said Melissa Cox, PhD, assistant professor of health behavior at the Gillings School. “My hope is that this fund will help current and future doctoral students feel more supported and that they will have a greater capacity to complete their studies while maintaining other important facets of their lives.”
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Eng, Cassel and Ennett are giants in their respective fields. With the establishment of these funds, their legacies will live on and inspire a new generation of passionate public health professionals.
“The need for public health to address many of the world’s greatest needs has never been more obvious,” said Debbie Winn, PhD, former acting director of the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute and a former student of Cassel’s. “The new funds will support talented students receiving the best education possible so they can make a major impact in public health.”
- Contribute to the Geni Eng Community Equity Award and Lecture Fund: go.unc.edu/GeniEngEndowment
- Contribute to the John Cassel Scholarship Endowment Fund: go.unc.edu/Cassel
- Contribute to the Susan T. Ennett Doctoral Scholarship: go.unc.edu/SusanEnnett
