Public health luminary Dr. William Foege will give a special keynote address at the 2018 State of the Public’s Health conference on Oct. 18 at the UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. The presentation begins at 3:30 p.m., and a book signing will follow at 4:30 p.m. All members of the public and the UGA community are invited to attend.
Foege’s talk will trace the history of modern public health and his contributions to the field to deliver “essentials for good public health programs.” Foege directed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1977-1983, going on to co-found the Task Force for Global Health in 1984. He is credited with developing the global strategy leading to the eradication of smallpox in the late 1970s and improving immunization rates in developing countries in the 1980s.
Foege was an original consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and currently serves as a Senior Fellow. He also served as the executive director of The Carter Center from 1986-1992. His many awards and honors include receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
Foege has authored three influential books: House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox; The Fears of the Rich, the Needs of the Poor: My Years at the CDC; and Task Force for Child Survival: Secrets of Successful Coalitions.
A review by the American Journal of Public Health predicts that Foege’s three books, which serve as part autobiography and part history of modern public health, “will likely become classics in the public health literature—analogous to publications by such 19th century giants of the field as Farr, Semmelweis, Snow and Virchow.”
All three books will be available for purchase at the book signing.
The State of the Public’s Health conference is presented by the Office for Outreach and Engagement at UGA’s College of Public Health.
