We are grateful for Patrick Williams, MPH ’17, who is a leader in global public health. Williams, who received support from donors including James and Roberta Craig while at SPH, is now program manager for the Sahel Peace Initiative. The Initiative is a Catholic Relief Services regional project in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, and Ivory Coast that advances humanitarian aid, peacebuilding, and advocacy. Williams manages a team that provides basic services to violently displaced persons across the Sahel. The Craigs’ vision for inspiring global public health leadership through their support continues to yield great returns.
You can help support future leaders in public health with a gift to the public health fund or another scholarship fund at SPH. Make your gift today.
Inspiring Global Public Health Leadership
by Heidi Mastrud
When Dr. James Craig met School of Public Health MPH student and Dr. James & Roberta Craig Scholarship for International Public Health Studies recipient Patrick Williams, they realized they had two very important things in common: formative public health experiences in rural Appalachia and an interest in global health. It’s connections like these that have encouraged Jim Craig and his wife, Bobbi, to make public health education accessible for students like Patrick. The Craig family name is connected to three scholarships at SPH. Since 1998, their scholarships have helped over 80 students. “We like to give so others can learn,” says Jim Craig.
Jim Craig joined SPH in 1979 as an adjunct clinical professor with a specialty in occupational medicine. At the time, he was one of only a few physicians certified in occupational medicine in the community, working as corporate medical director for General Mills. He retired from the company as vice president and director of health and human services in 1998.
Jim Craig has been closely connected to SPH as a founding member of the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety Education and Research Center, a center closely connected to SPH. His commitment to SPH students has included mentoring and advising students, and making regular contributions to scholarship funds.
While working for General Mills, Jim was encouraged by his coworker to meet with Bobbi, a corporate attorney for the company. Skeptically, they agreed to meet for lunch “just to show [the coworker] it wouldn’t work.” Thirty-seven years later, the couple lights up when they talk about their life and their travels together.
Those travels brought them to India, which sparked their interest in helping to fund global public health experiences for SPH students. “In India, we saw so many children begging at the slums by the Mumbai airport,” says Bobbi Craig “It was shocking and disturbing. We felt that something had to be done.”
That need for action became an investment in public health education scholarships, something they thought would help solve real public health challenges across the world, and impact many.
As a 25th anniversary gift Jim surprised Bobbi with a fellowship fund at SPH in her name. The Roberta A. Craig Fellowship in International Public Health is used to support scholarships for students from developing nations or to support American students in work/study experiences in developing countries.
The Craigs are also connected to two other funds at SPH. The first was established by General Mills upon Jim Craig’s retirement to support MDs as they receive public health education and/or public health practitioners as they seek a medical degree. The second fund, the Dr. James & Roberta Craig Scholarship for International Public Health Studies, took advantage of the University of Minnesota President’s match, and supports students with an interest or background in global health. It was this scholarship that Patrick Williams, who spent his early career practicing public health in West Africa, was awarded when he began his public health studies in 2015. Williams spent a month while in his graduate program participating in a field experience in India, where he learned more about international public health interventions.
The Craigs’ vision for inspiring global public health leadership through their support has yielded great returns. Williams, who graduated in 2017, is now Program Manager for the Sahel Peace Initiative, a Catholic Relief Services regional project in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana and Ivory Coast. He manages a team working to provide basic services to violently displaced persons across the Sahel. He works in humanitarian aid, peacebuilding, and advocacy.
