May 03, 2012
When Don and Jennifer Holzworth established a distinguished professorship in March, they simultaneously supported two ventures that excited them – the work of UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC’s two-year campus-wide theme, water.

Dr. Jamie Bartram

Dr. Jamie Bartram

On April 26, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees announced that Jamie Bartram, PhD, professor of environmental sciences and engineering at the public health school and director of The Water Institute at UNC, has been selected as the first Holzworth Distinguished Professor.

“We are extremely pleased that Jamie Bartram has been awarded our distinguished professorship,” Don Holzworth said. “His work on water – our world’s most precious resource – is respected by all who know him. Jamie has influenced both science and global policy while at the same time improving the lives of millions. He is an inspiration to many students and to his peers. We are honored to know him.”

Don Holzworth, who serves as the school’s first Gillings Executive-in-Residence, chairs the School of Public Health Advisory Council and is adjunct professor of health policy and management. A member of the Chancellor’s Innovation Circle, he has been instrumental in leading innovation at the school and in launching The Water Institute at UNC, which is part of the public health school.

Income from the endowment will be used for salary, travel, student assistance and other scholarly support.

“I’m honored to be selected to help advance the School’s and the Institute’s missions,” Bartram said. “Clean water and sanitation issues disproportionately affect the vulnerable – in the U.S. as well as in developing countries. We have a lot of work to do to improve health around the world through attention to water-related issues, and the Holzworths’ gift makes a giant step in the right direction. I’m grateful for their interest in the issues, the establishment of the professorship, and the selection of myself as recipient.”

The Don and Jennifer Holzworth Distinguished Professorship Fund was initiated with a $666,000 gift from the Holzworths. Matching funds through the state’s Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund support the $1 million professorship.

The Holzworths’ support of the University flows from a lifetime of dedication to global public health. Don Holzworth founded Constella Group in 1983, a human health services company that employed innovative science, technology and management solutions to solve pressing health problems in more than 60 countries.

Jennifer Holzworth was Constella’s chief financial officer during its start-up phase and has dedicated herself to volunteer work, most recently with emergency and other medical services in Vail, Colo.

Read more about the Holzworths’ gift.
Read more about UNC’s water theme.
Read more about The Water Institute at UNC.


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UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Linda Kastleman, communications editor, (919) 966-8317 or linda_kastleman@unc.edu.

 

 

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