Leaders

By Patrick Adams

In 2003, when the William H. Foege Fellowship in Global Health program was still in the planning stages, rsph professor and public health economist Deborah McFarland received a request from Foege and rsph Dean James Curran. “They wanted to know if I would be the program director,” she recalls. “I said ‘yes’ immediately.”

In the six years since, McFarland has served as mentor, colleague, and friend to 14 Foege fellows, all supported by a $5 million endowment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Established to honor the career achievements of Foege, renowned global health expert and senior adviser to the Gates Foundation, the gift supports four fellows every year. In pursing their mph degrees, the fellows—mid-career professionals from developing countries—forge lasting partnerships with Atlanta-based public health agencies,