From the Dean

Winter 2007

Dear Friends,

Anyone who works in the field of chronic disease prevention in our School of Public Health stands “on the shoulders of giants” such as Ancel Keys and Leonard Schuman.

Keys, a physiologist, left an indelible mark on the field as his research made enormous advances in cardiovascular disease prevention. Schuman, a physician and epidemiologist, was one of the few to work across the fields of chronic and infectious disease. He will forever be remembered for his work on the famous 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking. An exciting part of my job as dean is watching our faculty members follow in the footsteps of
Keys, Schuman, and so many others. Today’s faculty continue to move the field forward in new and important ways. Our cover story focuses on these advances in chronic disease prevention, especially in the areas of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. It is remarkable work of which I daresay Drs. Keys and Schuman would be proud.

I am delighted to be embarking on a new program to engage the immensely talented and connected corps of SPH alumni. As I write this, a steering committee of alumni is reviewing a stack of applications for seats on the new SPH Alumni Society Board. That board will help to harness the incredible momentum we are experiencing as a school and lead new alumni efforts in public health advocacy, scholarship philanthropy, and counsel on our educational programming.

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Minnesota Public Health Association (MPHA), an important ally of the SPH, and an organization that has been behind many of our state’s most important public health advances over the last century. Their centennial year brings with it numerous celebratory events. See www.mpha.net for more information. Happy birthday, MPHA!

Finally, please continue to pay us virtual visits at www.sph.umn.edu, where you’ll find a wealth of new features that I guarantee you will find interesting as well as surprisingly flashy, for public health.

Yours in health,

John R. Finnegan, Jr.
Dean and Professor
Assistant Vice President for Public Health