The magnificent gift

The gift that Dr. Dennis and Joan Gillings pledged to University of North Carolina School of Public Health — $50 million — is incredibly generous. It will provide critical resources to accelerate solutions to public health problems.

One of the ways we will do this is by creating Innovation Laboratories to achieve even greater impact. They will concentrate efforts on innovative solutions in focused, high priority areas. The labs will be competitively-selected and expected to perform according to benchmarks established for each lab. Laboratories may be in a defined physical spaces or virtual. Some will focus directly on North Carolina problems while others may be global. (As I have said before, these are not dichotomies.) They will reflect a variety of problems whose solutions could have substantial public health impact. Innovation Laboratories will include people from a range of disciplines, not only bench sciences, and investigators will be from other schools on campus and other organizations in addition to the School of Public Health.

Every student and faculty member may participate in this gift — through direct work on an innovation project, in the classroom, as advisors or as practitioners.  Some Innovation Labs may tackle highly risky endeavors — sometimes referred to as radical innovations. Others may address problems with solutions that might be termed incremental innovations. These are less risky but no less important. Budgets will vary depending on the problem and the solution. Initial funding will not be a guarantee of continued funding. High performance is essential.

There are several other aspects of the gift, including Gillings Fellows, sabbaticals to UNC-Chapel Hill for people from other organizations, working sabbaticals in innovative settings for UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, support for students working in Innovative Laboratories, the Gillings Prize for Public Health Impact, and curricular innovations to assure economic literacy for our graduates.

Now, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to deliver on the investment that Dr. Dennis and Joan Gillings have made in us. Over the next few months, we’ll engage in the first stages of a planning and evaluation cycle that will be continuous. We will develop criteria for selection of Innovation Laboratories, Gillings Fellows and the Gillings Prize.

I learned from many years working with and at the NIH that it is very easy to spend a lot of money. It is more challenging to spend money well, in ways that make a difference. This gift must make a difference. Speed is not necessarily the path to wise investments. Due diligence, invested in a process of determining what we expect and wish of Innovation Laboratories, will help us to develop selection criteria, operating principles and support systems that are fair and maximize likelihood of success. Criteria will evolve over time as we gain more experience and as research needs change. We’ll get advice from people in business, government, foundations, NGOs and academia. We will talk with people and may visit some of the most promising settings to learn more.

We’ll also develop benchmarks with which to assess progress. These benchmarks will be used to make decisions about continued funding.

We’ll use our Web site to provide updates, solicit feedback, track progress and provide a channel by which you can post ideas, comments and even seek collaborators or advice. I hope the larger community of public health people will constitute a collaboratory that will advise us as we move forward on multiple fronts to accelerate solutions to public health problems.

We’ll also convene a group within the School of Public Health to examine what and how we teach about areas that contribute to economic literacy. We’re committed to curricular changes that will assure that all our students have a thorough understanding not only of planning and budgeting but also the role of health and health care in the global economy, and that will prepare our graduates for changing needs within the public health and health care environments.

Thank you for your interest in our plans and your enthusiasm for moving forward. Some of you even have offered to help us spend the gift!  

This is not the end

Several of you have also commented, “I guess you don’t need my financial support now.”  Nothing could be further from the truth!  We are very, very grateful for the incredibly generous gift from Dr. Dennis and Joan Gillings. Their gift is intended to accomplish a set of specific objectives. It will encourage us to aim higher and accomplish even more. That requires even more resources. We want to leverage the investment the Gillings have made in our school so that we can achieve even greater impact.

There are many opportunities for alumni, parents, friends and colleagues to put their special imprint on the School – naming a room in one of our three buildings, funding scholarships, internships and professorships, supporting strategic initiatives in water, obesity, health disparities, global health and teaching for the 21^st century, and  providing critically important unrestricted funds through the Annual Fund. The need for research, education and service on public health issues has never been greater. We look forward to your continued participation in the life of the School. After all, the bar has been raised for us as a result of the gift from Dr. and Mrs. Gillings! More investments in our School of Public Health also will send a message to the Gillings that you support their investment.  

Gillings School of Global Public Health

Many of you have asked when we will take the new name, Gillings School of Global Public Health. This will not happen immediately.  It is the policy of the University of North Carolina to name a School or other unit when a defined proportion of the funds are received and invested. We will keep you apprised of when the name change will occur.

Onward!  

We have been given a remarkable opportunity to make a difference. The Gillingses’ gift is a very generous investment in our school and in the future of public health. People around the world will be watching us as we move forward to invest it wisely. We are committed to the success of our new enterprise. We need your ideas and your support of this important work — indeed, your collaboration. Stay tuned for regular updates and requests for your advice and assistance. I look forward to working with colleagues in our School, from other schools at UNC-Chapel Hill and colleagues beyond UNC-Chapel Hill as we embark on this wonderful new journey!

“It’s getting better every day.”

Barbara K. Rimer