Gala draws record ticket sales

The biggest crowd ever for the Alumni and Friends Scholarship Gala brought a festive spirit and an outpouring of good will to the event.

Thanks to ticket sales and donations, the SPH scholarship endowment is now worth more than $230,000, and when awards are given to students, the President’s Scholarship Match will double the amount.

Keynote speaker Michael Specter, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives, challenged guests to examine how science influences—or more to the point, doesn’t influence—their thoughts on issues like GMOs and integrative medicine.

During the evening, SPH dean John Finnegan, on behalf of the SPH Alumni Society Board, presented the school’s Gaylord W. Anderson Leadership Award to Robert Hiller and Bernard Harlow, two leaders in the field of public health.

HealthEast Care System and UnitedHealth Group sponsored the gala, which the SPH Alumni Society Board supported and planned.