Remembering Allan Rosenfield, MD
October 27th, 2008
Dr. Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Merck & Co., Inc., and Co-Chair, Global Health Progress, remembers Dr. Allan Rosenfield, Dean Emeritus of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and women’s health advocate.
The recent news of Dr. Allan Rosenfield’s passing left so many of his friends and colleagues with a sense of profound loss. For more than 40 years, he was a tireless advocate for maternal health, women’s rights to control their own bodies and destinies, and global health more generally. He enlisted countless others in support of these causes, and, as Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, he created a world-class center for research and training in these fields. Others knew his work better than I, and the outpouring reminiscences and memorials provide details on his remarkably productive career.
What I’d like to share is the story of how I got to know Allan Rosenfield – and what this tells us about his unique gifts in building a community of caring and commitment in support of the issues about which he cared so deeply.
My first encounter with Allan was serendipitous – we sat next to each other on a plane ride from Durban, South Africa, to Johannesburg after the International AIDS Conference in 2000. You may recall how contentious that meeting was, with attention focused on the gap in access to antiretroviral treatment between the developed and developing worlds. After a week of interactions with sometimes hostile activists and skeptical reporters, I was on edge.
But after a few quiet questions from Allan, I found myself drawn into an animated conversation that ranged widely across the landscape of the global response to the HIV epidemic. He wasn’t interested in the controversies that had distracted many for the past week – only in knowing what we were trying to do to improve access, what we were learning, how we might link to programs he was directing in prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and what roles a private sector company could play in strengthening the global response to the epidemic. His knowledgeable, pragmatic, open and engaging approach was energizing, and I always looked forward to seeing Allan and comparing notes in the years since that first conversation.
Multiply that encounter by thousands, and you begin to understand the immense impact that Allan Rosenfield had on the global health community. His research and programmatic contributions are impressive in themselves, but his impact on people is what made him sui generis. Networking, sharing information, suggesting new approaches and possible collaborations – these were the tools he used effortlessly to connect people and institutions and to build a legacy that few will equal. It was a wonder to watch him in action – and to know that his efforts made a difference in the lives of millions. I was privileged to know Allan Rosenfield – and his example still shows the way for the work that we have yet to accomplish in global health.
At FCI, we’ll certainly miss Dr. Rosenfield as well. He was a truly inspirational man.