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  Honoring a Family's Legacy to Global Health    
       
       
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The dedication of the Hubert Department of Global Health marked a poignant milestone for the RSPH and the Hubert family. In naming the department, the RSPH paid tribute to the late O.C. Hubert (left), a Georgia businessman committed to helping others, and his wife, Ruth. Among those gathered for the occasion were (top photo, l-r), William Foege, Dick and Linda Hubert, Henry A. Manning III, H. Aymar Manning Jr., Deborah Hubert, (bottom row, l-r), Karen Woodward, Marilyn Kemper, Ruth Hubert, and James Curran. Center, left photo: Dick Hubert, pictured with his wife, Linda, leads the Hubert Foundation. During the occasion, Ruth Hubert shared a quiet moment with RSPH Dean James Curran.  
   





March 30 was a day like no on other as the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) dedicated the Hubert Department of Global Health, the first solely named department on the Emory campus and the first such named department among the nation's schools of public health.
     It was also a day to honor O.C. and Ruth Hubert and their family, for whom the school named the department in recognition of their generosity. When O.C. died in 1986, he was the largest private individual owner of property in Cobb County, Georgia. In accordance with his wishes, the bulk of his estate was to be used to help others, but not until his wife's death. But as Ruth told her family, she did not want to be "an impediment to the charitable purposes" she and O.C. planned.
     The result today is the Hubert Foundation, which is led by her son, Richard (Dick) Hubert. Support to date from the foundation, which has given and pledged $10 million to the RSPH, doubled the endowment for the O.C. Hubert Fellowships in International Health, allowing more students to travel overseas to conduct field research. It established two chairs—the William H. Foege Chair of Global Health, held by Keith Klugman, and the Ruth and O.C. Hubert Chair in Global Health, held by Venkat Narayan—and created the Richard N. Hubert Fund for Global Health Excellence to support new and innovative approaches to solving the world's health challenges.
     During the dedication of the Hubert Department of Global Health, Dick expressed his thanks to the RSPH for enabling his family's foundation to meet its mission of caring for people who are hungry or sick. "You are as important to us as we are to you," he said. "You have the expertise to accomplish the high purpose of our mission and the sensitivity to deal with a global world."
     The work of the RSPH and the Hubert family's desire to improve quality of life worldwide make for a good fit. "The fact is that we can always find a niche and, I hope, make a difference," Dick told guests, including his mother, now 97. "We cannot do that unless we have people who are willing to be trained and go into the field. It is a question of dedication and a question of training, and the Rollins School of Public Health does that.
     "When we looked through my father's papers after his death, we found his visa to Ethiopia—he wanted to find some way to do directly what we are doing," Dick noted. "I do it in his name, I do it in the family's name, and I thank you very much for your effort to what I think is a common and worthwhile goal."


 
   
       
       
     
 

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