$20 million grant to fund IUPUI school of public health

IU President Michael McRobbie announced Tuesday that a $20 million grant has been awarded to IU-Purdue University Indianapolis by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation of Indianapolis to help fund its proposed school of public health and provide support for public health initiatives in Indiana.

“This is an extraordinarily generous gift that gives us great momentum as we prepare for the opening of a school of public health in Indianapolis to train future generations of public health practitioners and researchers,” McRobbie said in an IU press release.

“We are indebted to the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation board of directors for their vision, foresight and commitment to improving the quality of life in Indiana.”

Following the Master of Public Health program reviews IUPUI’s accreditation, the University hopes to open its school of public health in the fall of 2011.

In a press release, IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz said “at least 80 percent of the gift will be placed in an endowment that will provide essential funding for faculty and students.”

“The impact of this gift will forever be seen in the education of students who will become tomorrow’s public health professionals and researchers, in the support of ongoing public health research, and in the direct improvement of the health of the people of Indiana,” Bantz said in the press release. “Part of the challenge is not only treating disease, but preventing it in the first place. Public health is about prevention.”

Creating a badly needed school of public health is long overdue, Leonard Betely, chairman of the Fairbanks Foundation, said in a press release. Thus, a major focus of the foundation is improving health, he said.

“Major deficiencies in our region and state are resources, research and trained personnel in the area of public health,” he said in the release. “Health studies consistently show that disease prevention through public health initiatives have a significant impact on the physical and economic health of a community...we are pleased to be part of the effort.”

— Bailey Loosemore