Simmons College Names Renowned Public Health Leader and Academician as New President; Susan C. Scrimshaw, Internationally Respected Public Health Scholar and Dean of the University of Illinois School of Public Health, Takes Reins July 1

Business Wire, Dec 20, 2005

BOSTON -- The Simmons College Board of Trustees today announced the appointment of Susan C. Scrimshaw, an internationally respected public health scholar and dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), as the next Simmons president.

Scrimshaw will take over the reins of the college in Boston July 1 from President Daniel S. Cheever, Jr., who retires after more than a decade of service during which he delivered significant and record enrollment growth, robust financial health, a multimillion-dollar building program, and innovative curriculum.

"Simmons has prospered mightily in virtually every respect under President Cheever," said Simmons Trustee Chair Lucia Luce Quinn. "Thanks to his leadership and strong commitment to Simmons's mission, we have attracted a terrific new president who will leverage Simmons's successes, and position the college nationally and internationally for the 21st century."

Simmons College (www.simmons.edu) is a pioneering, nationally ranked private university in Boston with nearly 2,000 undergraduate students and 3,000 graduate students. Founded in 1899 as the first women's college in the nation to combine liberal arts with career preparation, today Simmons has an undergraduate college for women, and graduate schools for women and men in social work, health studies, library and information science, and management.

Scrimshaw, a prolific author, is frequently honored for her work in raising awareness of public health issues around the world, including minority populations in the U.S. Her awards include a gold medal as a "Hero of Public Health" presented by the president of Mexico, and the Margaret Mead Award of the American Anthropological Association. She is a member of the governing council of the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, whose members are chosen for making "major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health."

Scrimshaw is a member and past chair of the national Association of Schools of Public Health, and the board of directors of the US-Mexico Foundation for Science, which advocates for scientific collaboration between the two countries. She recently chaired the Institute of Medicine's committee on Improving the Health of Diverse Populations.

Scrimshaw grew up in Guatemala and then moved with her family to Newton, MA when she was 16. Her father Nevin Scrimshaw, M.D., Ph.D., is an international nutritionist who established the M.I.T. Department of Nutrition and Food Science, and was the 1991 World Food Prize Laureate for alleviating hunger and malnutrition in developing nations. He and Susan Scrimshaw are the first father-daughter members of the Institute of Medicine.

Scrimshaw received her undergraduate degree in anthropology and Latin American studies from Barnard College, a women's liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University. Her research interests focus on gender, race, ethnicity and culture, and their impact on public health, as ways to improve the health of the underserved.

Under her tenure, the UIC School of Public Health has nearly doubled its overall budget and set new academic standards, while increasing enrollment 50 percent, with a 50 percent population of diverse students--making it the most diverse school of public health in the nation.

The School of Public Health at UIC under Scrimshaw established one of the first of four Bioterrorism Preparedness Centers funded by the Center for Disease Control two years prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and Scrimshaw led her school in a national role in responding to the catastrophe. As chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health, she led negotiations with the federal government after Sept. 11 to fund 22 such centers nationwide.

Under her leadership, the UIC School of Public Health has used its research and programmatic expertise to establish a wide range of community, regional and national partnership initiatives, including addressing disparities in delivery of health care, improving pregnancy outcomes, maternal and child health, healthy aging, violence prevention, cancer prevention, AIDS/STD prevention, and occupational and environmental health issues.

Jo-Ann Robotti, Simmons trustee and chair of the Simmons Presidential Search Committee, praised Scrimshaw's "international reputation as a distinguished public health scholar and academic leader with a record of institution building.

"Dr. Scrimshaw's commitment to educating women as a powerful way to improve the world, is a perfect match for the Simmons ethos and mission. Her leadership will enable us to take the next great leap forward."

Scrimshaw said she was "utterly delighted to join Simmons; it's a truly special institution with a singular approach to professional preparation, intellectual exploration, and community orientation.

"Its unique mix of people-focused graduate and undergraduate academic programs and its emphasis as a woman-centered institution can leverage Simmons as a change agent in the nation and the world."