Open House will recognize Arnold School achievements

May 16, 2014

Ann Dr. Alan Decho

Dr. Harris Pastides announces fellowship to benefit HSPM doctoral students.

A $350,000 gift from Columbia business leader Ed Sellers will establish the Dr. Suzan D. Boyd Doctoral Fellowship Fund at the Arnold School of Public Health.

Sellers' gift, made in honor of his wife, will fund a fellowship within the Department of Health Services Policy and Management, where Boyd served on the faculty. The fellowship will be awarded for the 2014 – 15 academic year.

The announcement of the gift was made Tuesday (May 13) at the Open House for the Discovery 1 building, now occupied by many of the Arnold School's research faculty and the Columbia's Cooking! Research Demonstration Kitchen.

The opening of Discovery 1, located at the corner of Greene and Lincoln streets, gives the Arnold School a growing presence in the heart of Columbia. The Public Health Research Center, which opened in 2006 on Assembly Street, also houses research facilities and administrative offices.

Dr. Tom Chandler, dean of the Arnold School, discussed the growth of the Arnold School since 1998 when USC President Harris Pastides arrived at the University as dean of the Arnold School and when Boyd was serving as an associate professor at the school.

"We had 550 students and 68 faculty … the school-wide base budget was about $5 million, grants were $6 million and faculty publications per year were about 70.

"Today, we have 2,400 students and 140 faculty… the school-wide base operating budget is more than $22 million. Grants and contracts are $31.7 million for 2014," he said. "Publications this past year are 412 journal articles. This is amazing growth by any metric."

The demographics of the school also have changed dramatically, Chandler said.

Those changes include:

  • One-third of the faculty grew up abroad;
  • They "are the best and brightest we could possibly recruit from more than 15 different countries, including the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Lebanon, Palestine, Iran, Egypt, China, Taiwan, Korea, Bangladesh, India, England, and Canada.
  • Students are from more than 30 different countries.

"We have a very rich culture in our school today; rich in positive and productive collaborations, rich in research competitiveness and competency, and rich in national and international recognition," he said.

And while the school's faculty continue to set ever higher goals for scholarly production, they also have high goals for scholarly impact in public health, Chandler said.

"As public healthers we all strive to make a difference for humanity; this faculty, staff and students work every day to find better ways to create the conditions where people can be healthy" he said. "The Arnold School's impact in the local community is undeniably positive."

USC President Harris Pastides lauded Sellers and Boyd for their "lifelong contributions to our city and state."

"From Edventure (Children's Museum) to ETV to the Columbia Museum's Chamber Music on Main and so much more, Ed and Suzan continue to quietly enrich the quality of South Carolinians' daily lives," he said.

"What a fitting tribute that Ed has designated this fund to honor his wife, Professor Suzan Boyd, as she is one of the Arnold School's most excellent, most accomplished and most beloved educators," he said. "The importance of this fund cannot be overstated. It will enable us to attract, retain and prepare the best and the brightest students. It indicates support for our doctoral students and helps Carolina compete against our peer and peer-aspirants."

Boyd is a 1997 alumna of the Arnold School and served on the faculty from 1987 – 2000. She directed the master of health administration program, leading it to accreditation and ultimately tripling the size of its enrollment. In 1993, she was named the recipient of the Arnold School's James A. Keith Excellence in Teaching Award, given annually to the school's most outstanding teacher.

Boyd's influence in the education of students who have become public health and health administration leaders was emphasized by several of her former students, John J. Singerling III, president of Palmetto Health, Dr. Mary Prince, senior advisor for the S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, and Forest Alton, CEO of the S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

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