Jonathan Mann Health and Human Rights Memorial Lecture Series
The Dornsife School of Public Health’s Jonathan Mann Health & Human Rights Memorial Lecture speaks to the importance of health and human rights and honors the legacy of our School's founder, Dr. Mann.
Dynamic speakers inspire the public health community with their innovative ideas and approaches in addressing the challenges of public health locally, domestically, or internationally. The Mann Lecture is an opportunity to recognize both established and lesser-known public health practitioners that are doing groundbreaking work.
Remembering Jonathan Mann
"Jonathan Mann was a fierce advocate for change in epidemiology and disease control.
He understood the vital importance of a global response. He realized the significant role that the United Nations and its agencies could fulfill. He appreciated the vital need for global solidarity abroad. He preached the critical importance of community engagement and participation at home.
As the founding Dean of the School of Public Health at Drexel University, his legacy is still strongly felt within the school. The need for his legacy is still critical to recognition of the importance of training students, conducting research and translating research into practice with a human rights lens."
- The Honorable Michael Kirby AC CMG (Australia). Read Kirby's full reflection on Mann's legacy.
Our most recent Mann Lecture speaker was Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH, director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and the FXB professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
In 2020 Dr. Bassett discussed how public health crises like HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 expose and reveal health inequities in societies in her lecture titled, "How Epidemics Show Us Who We Are: From HIV/AIDS to COVID-19."
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All are encouraged to read Dr. Bassett's piece "#BlackLivesMatter — A Challenge to the Medical and Public Health Communities" published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
More about Dr. Mary T. Bassett
With more than 30 years of experience in public health, Dr. Mary T. Bassett has dedicated her career to advancing health equity. Dr. Bassett is currently the Director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and the FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to joining the FXB Center, she served as New York City’s Commissioner of Health from 2014 to 2018.
Dr. Bassett’s many awards and honors include the prestigious Frank A. Calderone Prize in Public Health, a Kenneth A. Forde Lifetime Achievement Award from Columbia University, and election to the National Academy of Medicine.
She received her B.A. in History and Science from Harvard University and her M.D. from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. She served her medical residency at Harlem Hospital Center and has a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Washington, where she was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar.
Previous Speakers
Sofia Gruskin, JD, MIA, professor of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, professor of Law and Preventive Medicine, Gould School of Law director, Program on Global Health and Human Rights Institute for Global HealthUniversity of Southern California
"Engaging Human Rights for Global Health: Sexual Rights and How Definitions and Data Drive Global and Local Engagement"
October 24, 2018
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Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD, dean and professor of Medicine for the College of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
"The Public Health Approach to Preventing Violence: A Retrospective"
April 27, 2017
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Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, president of the American Public Health Association
"Achieving Health Equity: Tools for a National Conversation on Racism"
May 9, 2016
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Dana L. and David H. Dornsife, Philanthropists
"Health and Human Rights: The Quest for Water in Africa"
October 6, 2014
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Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator
"Ten Years of Progress: Working Towards an AIDS-Free Generation"
April 18, 2013
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Rajsekhar Budithi, CEO of the Society for the Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP)
Given in conjunction with National Conference on Hunger and Poverty: "Beyond Hunger: Real People, Real Solutions."
May 4, 2012 (Video link unavailable)
Susan Retik, President & Co-Founder of Beyond 11th
April 7, 2011
"Advancing Peace and Health by Empowering Widows in Afghanistan"
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Barbara Hogan, South African Minister of Health
Featuring a Special Tribute to Ahmed Kathrada
November 12, 2008
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Dr. Paul Farmer, Founder of Partners in Health
Rethinking Global Public Health: Prevention, Care and the Role of the American University
November 20, 2007
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