Francine and Harry Weinberger, Parents of Morris Weinberger, PhD, Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management
Morris Weinberger establishes awards at Gillings School to recognize students involved in social justice, honoring his parents' legacy.
When Morris Weinberger was 11 years old, he watched his father serve food to a homeless man in the back of the family’s Westchester, New York, luncheonette. Perplexed that the man was not asked to pay, Weinberger questioned his father, who replied, “I’ve been there. I know what it’s like.”
“My parents were Holocaust survivors who came here with nothing,” says Weinberger, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management and Vergil N. Slee Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Quality Management, “but despite their long work hours at the luncheonette, they always found time and ways to give back.”
After his parents died, Weinberger and his wife, Jane, talked with their daughters about establishing a fund at the Gillings School to honor the memory of their grandparents, Francine and Harry.
“Our parents taught my wife and me about social justice when we were very young,” Weinberger says, “and our own family has been involved with social action causes, such as homelessness and hunger, since our daughters were young. We decided to establish annual awards at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels to recognize health policy and management students who are active in social justice issues or with organizations that support the values of an inclusive society. Not for a second have I doubted that was the right thing to do.”
The inaugural Francine and Harry Weinberger Awards for Excellence were presented in Spring 2018 to four Gillings students: Hiwot Ekuban and Samantha Farley (BSPH), Lauren Jordan (MPH), and Alecia Slade-Clary (PhD).
“In our school of public health, there is so much passion and commitment to social justice,” Weinberger says, “and the awards committee was faced with the difficult task of selecting the winners. I had taught each of the students at some point and knew the depth of their dedication, leadership and their great potential for future impact.”
For Weinberger, building an ever-widening student and alumni network is also key to nurturing successful careers.
“Relationships continue long after graduation,” he says. “I hear from former students regularly, and they hear from me. I like to make connections and use the network, and our alumni are eager to pay it forward.”
Weinberger feels fortunate to have worked on some interesting research projects over the years, but to him, mentoring and teaching are the most meaningful.
“That is why I’m still in the classroom,” he says, “and will be until I retire.”
