Jonathan Mann Health and Human Rights Memorial Lecture Series
Mural depicting the words of Dr. Mann in the lobby of the Dornsife School of Public Health. The mural reads: Promoting and protecting both health and human rights is nothing short of revolutionary for public health practice.
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.
Gregg Gonsalves, PhD, Drexel Dornsife's 2026 Mann Lecture speaker
The Mann Lecture will take place on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. in Nesbitt Hall. The event will also be livestreamed.
This year's speaker is Gregg Gonsalves, PhD, a professor in the Department of the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health and a professor (adjunct) at Yale Law School.
At Yale, Dr. Gonsalves also co-directs the Global Health Justice Partnership, an initiative of Yale's Schools of Public Health and School of Law, working at the intersections of health and human rights and social justice.
For close to 35 years, he has been an AIDS activist, working first with the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in Boston and New York, then co-founding the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC). He has also worked with Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York and the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa in Cape Town.
Dr. Gonsalves was named a 2018 MacArthur Fellow.
Remembering Drexel Dornsife's Founding Dean, Dr. 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.
Previous Speakers
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
2020
Watch the lecture: How Epidemics Show Us Who We Are: From HIV/AIDS to COVID-19
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
2018
Watch the lecture: Engaging Human Rights for Global Health: Sexual Rights and How Definitions and Data Drive Global and Local Engagement
Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD, dean and professor of Medicine for the College of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
2017
Watch the lecture: The Public Health Approach to Preventing Violence: A Retrospective
Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, president of the American Public Health Association
2016
Watch the lecture: Achieving Health Equity: Tools for a National Conversation on Racism
Dana L. and David H. Dornsife, Philanthropists
2014
Watch the lecture: Health and Human Rights: The Quest for Water in Africa
Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator
2013
Watch the lecture: Ten Years of Progress: Working Towards an AIDS-Free Generation
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."
2012
Video link unavailable
Susan Retik, President & Co-Founder of Beyond 11th
2011
Watch the lecture: Advancing Peace and Health by Empowering Widows in Afghanistan
Barbara Hogan, South African Minister of Health
Featuring a Special Tribute to Ahmed Kathrada
2008
Watch the lecture: Using the Themes of Dignity, Evidence, and Global Solidarity in Jonathan Mann's Work to Examine Health and Human Rights Challenges in the 21st Century
Dr. Paul Farmer, Founder of Partners in Health
2007
Watch the lecture: Rethinking Global Public Health: Prevention, Care and the Role of the American University