The University Record, March 26, 1996
Dow Chemical Co. awards $1. 2 million to School of Public Health
By Deborah Gilbert
News and Information Services
The Dow Chemical Co. has pledged a gift of $1.2 million to the School of Public Health. The University later will submit a recommendation to the Regents to use these funds to establish a Dow Professorship in Public Health.
The first professorship will focus on health risks and benefits of chemicals in the environment and will be awarded to a faculty member in toxicology.
“Endowed professorships enable the School to attract and retain outstanding scientists and assist us in our quest to remain a premier research institution in public health,” says Noreen M. Clark, dean of the School of Public Health.
“The Department of Environmental and Industrial Health in the School of Public Health is one of the finest centers in the world for research, teaching and service,” says David T. Buzzelli, Dow’s vice president and corporate director, Environment, Health & Safety. “This gift will serve to further our individual and collective goals in the important area of public health. For example, by examining the benefits and risks of chemicals in the environment, our support can help ensure that the School continues to excel in the area of training and research in human toxicology.”
“Through the generosity of Dow, health-related issues can be addressed and problems solved,” says Khalil H. Mancy, chair of the Department of Environmental and Industrial Health.
“The timing and purpose of this professorship mesh perfectly with our strategic plan for development of the Toxicology Program,” says Rudy J. Richardson, professor and director of toxicology.
“This prestigious and generous gift will allow us to attract an outstanding individual to add strength to our targeted areas of key concern, such as understanding the relationships between certain chemical exposures and health problems such as reproductive dysfunction, birth defects, immunological diseases, nervous system disorders and cancer.
“A prime challenge for the Dow Professor and the Toxicology Program will be to find new ways to link the results of laboratory research to human health and then communicate these linkages to the public,” Richardson says.
