Denise Feda: SPH Student Leader

At the SPH commencement ceremony this spring, Denise Feda delivered a speech to fellow graduates about the personal rewards of completing a graduate degree at the School of Public Health.

Feda, who is putting the finishing touches on her dissertation, will soon experience the great reward of adding "Ph.D." to her name. In her years at the SPH, the environmental health sciences student has served as president of the SPH Student Senate, been recognized for her leadership, and helped conduct a first-of-a-kind study on violence against educators.

As student senate president, Feda worked to expand student involvement and to create a diversity representative position on the senate. The new position led to the first Taste Diversity event.

"The idea is that food and cooking are the glue that brings individuals of diverse backgrounds together to discuss cultural differences and their impact on public heath," says Feda.

Earlier this year Feda became one of 12 graduate students to be honored with the University of Minnesota President's Student Leadership and Service Award. The award is given to just one-half of one percent of the student body. Feda was recognized for her senate service, as well as for her roles as campus liaison for the American Public Health Association and vice president of internal relations for the Council of Graduate Students.

For her studies, Feda is working with SPH professor Susan Gerberich on novel research examining the factors that lead to violence against educators.

"It's an important but often overlooked perspective," says Feda, who adds that most research has been limited to student-on-student violence. "The findings offer a new piece to the puzzle on policies that are effective in curbing school violence."