Campus & Community

Incoming HSPH dean receives Clinton Global Citizen Award

2 min read

Julio Frenk, who will become dean of the Harvard School of Public Health in January 2009, has received a Clinton Global Citizen Award.

In naming Frenk, along with four other individuals, former President William J. Clinton said, “The Global Citizen Awards are about honoring and inspiring service to humanity. Our award recipients were chosen from a pool of remarkable candidates. Their innovation, dedication, and determination have changed lives, and their actions serve as models of what each of us can do to make a difference in the world.”

Frenk is the former minister of health of Mexico and is currently a senior fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and president of the Carso Health Institute.

In the official announcement of the award, the Clinton Foundation described how Frenk “has changed the way practitioners and policymakers across the world think about health. As a result of Frenk’s work as minister of health of Mexico, Mexican health insurance is expanding access to quality care for almost 50 million Mexicans. … His ongoing work continues to deliver a greater focus on evidence-based decision making with life-saving results.”

Commenting on the announcement, Harvard University President Drew Faust said, “We at Harvard are so pleased that the Clinton Foundation has brought recognition to the global humanitarian contributions of extraordinary people such as Dr. Frenk. As a new dean here, Dr. Frenk will bring to bear his important global vision and interdisciplinary approach to the work of our School of Public Health and to the entire University.”

The other Global Citizen Award recipients were Jennifer and Peter Buffett, co-chairs, NoVo Foundation; Xiaoyi (Sheri) Liao, founder and president, Global Village of Beijing; and Neville Isdell, chairman of the board, the Coca-Cola Co.