Harvard Happenings

After some thought, and a small amount of consultation, I have decided to change Tuesday Travel Tips into Harvard Happenings.  The post is a work in progress, but in it I'll aim to give you a small taste of the wonderful array of seminars, meetings and events that I get exposed to everyday at the school of Public Health.  

I thought I'd start it off with a look back at last week.  2008 is a big year for the Harvard School of Public Health.  Dean Barry Bloom (left), who has lead the school for 10 years is standing down at the end of December.  Come January, our new Dean will be Julio Frenk.  Julio Frenk was relatively unknown to me prior to starting at Harvard, but he is something of a legend in america and on the public health circuit.  He served as the Minister for Health in Mexico from 2000 to 2006 where he helped to set-up and implement Oportunidades, one of the most successful

programs to target poverty, health outcomes and educational achievement concurrently.  He has also served on the WHO and is currently a senior fellow with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Anyway, last week Julio Frenk was officially welcomed into the Harvard Public Health School community with wine, cheese and plenty of speeches.  Julio Frenk gave a wonderful inaugural speech full of optimism and wit, with a whispering of exciting things to come during his deanery.  

For my small part, I would also like to say 'welcome Julio Frenk' - I'm excited to hear more from you!