The president of the Sage Colleges says Ebola has become a teachable moment. Dr. Susan Scrimshaw is an expert in the field of public health and spoke with WAMC News the day after the first confirmed case in New York.
According to her official Sage bio, Dr. Scrimshaw "is a graduate of Barnard College in New York City, Dr. Scrimshaw obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University, where she was a student of the famous cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead. At Barnard she majored in Latin American Studies and Anthropology.
Dr. Scrimshaw has held numerous leadership positions in higher education institutions across the U.S. Most recently, she served as president of Simmons College in Boston. Prior to her post at Simmons, she served 12 years as the dean of the School of Public Health and professor of community health sciences and anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Prior to those roles, she was associate dean of public health and professor of public health and anthropology at the University of California at Los Angeles.
A respected and accomplished scholar, Dr. Scrimshaw's research areas include community participatory research methods, addressing health disparities, improving pregnancy outcomes, violence prevention, health literacy, and culturally appropriate delivery of health care. She is the author of five books and numerous journal articles, book chapters and reports.
In the public health field, Dr. Scrimshaw has served with distinction on the Chicago Board of Health and the Illinois State Board of Health. She is a former chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health."
