April 28, 1999
Contact: Jody Oesterreicher (312) 996-8277 [email protected]
SHALALA TO ADDRESS UIC SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH COMMENCEMENT
Donna E. Shalala, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, will deliver the commencement address at the graduation ceremony of UIC's School of Public Health on Friday, May 7.
"I look forward to sharing my thoughts about what we have to do to build a healthcare system for the 21st century with the graduates of UIC's School of Public Health," Shalala said. Shalala is the longest-serving secretary of health and human services in U.S. history. She joined the Clinton administration in January 1993. Since then she has guided the approval of the Children's Health Insurance Plan, raised child immunization rates to the highest levels in history, led the fight against tobacco use among youth and crusaded for streamlining the processes for the approval of new drugs to treat AIDS and other diseases.
"I invited Secretary Shalala because I have tremendous admiration for her energy, spirit and accomplishments," said Susan Scrimshaw, dean of the School of Public Health. "She has chosen to strengthen and emphasize prevention, an area we in public health think is very important."
Shalala, former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is known to share a special bond with students and the Midwest, according to Scrimshaw. "The fact that a cabinet member will take the time to talk to a small group of students shows her dedication not only to students, but also to the future of public health," Scrimshaw said. "I hope the graduates will be touched by her commitment and energy."
Scrimshaw met the secretary through the dean's leadership role in the Association of Schools of Public Health. Scrimshaw is president-elect of the association, a consortium of 28 accredited schools of public health in the United States and Puerto Rico.
The School of Public Health is graduating 114 students. Eighty of these students are graduating with masters' of public health degrees, 16 with master's of science degrees, 12 with doctor of philosophy degrees and six with doctor of public health degrees.
UIC's School of Public Health is the only fully accredited school of public health in Illinois and one of just four such schools in the Midwest. The school, accredited in 1972, offers four graduate degrees and is organized into four academic divisions: community health sciences, environmental and occupational health sciences, epidemiology and biostatistics, and health policy and administration. The school is home to research centers for health behavior, health services, health and aging, health policy, health promotion and disease prevention, all of which are grouped under the Health Research and Policy Centers; and the Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health.
Most of the school's research focuses on enhancing the ability of communities to address environmental and behavioral risk factors that threaten the health of communities and individuals.
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