Alumni Society Board Planning Underway

Winter 2007

The School of Public Health is engaging with its vast alumni network by re-establishing the Alumni Society Board. A steering committee of alumni came together last fall and has been working to update the SPH Alumni Society constitution and bylaws, in preparation for assembling the board.

Nominations to the board were sought over the last few months, and the steering committee is in the process of reviewing the nominations and naming board members. The board will consist of 15 members, representing a diversity of graduation years and programs. The first board meeting will be held in April.

SPH Dean John Finnegan has charged the board to develop programming to provide value and lifelong learning opportunities to SPH alumni. Areas of focus for the new board will be public health advocacy, philanthropy to support scholarships, and advising on educational programming. "I am delighted to see alumni coming together with such great energy on behalf of the School of Public Health," says Finnegan. "I think the SPH has a great deal to offer alumni and similarly our alumni are of great importance to the school."

Andrew Nelson, executive director of the Minnesota-based HealthPartners Research Foundation and vice president of HealthPartners, received a master’s in public health administration from the SPH in 1987. He is a member of the steering committee.

"I don’t think there has ever been a better time to be engaged with the School of Public Health, given the significance of the field of public health and the prominence of the school," says Nelson. "We need the collective leadership of our public health alumni to pave the way through changes in these next few years."