Our Faculty

Dr. Moise Desvarieux

The State of the School event, held on May 11 in the 8th Floor Auditorium, drew an overflow crowd of Mailman School faculty and staff. Dean Linda Fried used the occasion to review and praise the School’s remarkable achievements during the past year and to lay out some of its ambitious goals and aspirations moving forward. At the same time, the gathering represented an important forum in which to celebrate the contributions and achievements of numerous members of the Mailman School community. These acknowledgments included, among others, recognizing the work of three recent department chairs and presenting both the School’s Staff Awards and the 2010 Dean’s Excellence in Leadership Award.

“Public Health at the Mailman School is Truly Advanced through his Global Mission”   

One of the School’s highest honors, the Dean’s Excellence in Leadership Award was bestowed upon Dr. Moise Desvarieux, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Noting her particular affection for the recently established honor, Dean Linda Fried said the award recognizes individuals who work to fulfill the aspirations of both the School and the field of public health to serve as leaders, who demonstrate great vision, and who “help bring that vision to fruition.” Dr. Desvarieux becomes the third recipient of the award, and the first selected on the basis of a School-wide nominating process.

Reading the numerous accolades set forth in the nominating letter, Dean Fried described Dr. Desvarieux's untiring efforts and profound contributions to the Mailman School, highlighting his pivotal role in the School’s recent ground-breaking partnership with a French school of public health – the École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique (EHESP), located in Paris. The anonymous nomination paid homage to “a faculty member swamped with work in a small office, under a pile of papers and two ringing cell phones, functioning in two time zones and with a rigorous travel schedule.” The nominator went on to say that he “nevertheless finds time to discuss this passion project and…has a vision for [for] true international collaboration on an academic as well as on a research level.” The nomination concluded by extolling Dr. Desvarieux’s efforts to “push our School in a new direction altogether” and that he is indeed most deserving of this award.   

Dean Fried added that the Selection Committee agreed. Judging by the standing ovation by for Dr. Desvarieux by those gathered, so did his colleagues.