Spring 2026
A Hero to the World, a Friend to Rollins
By Shelby Crosier
How Bill Foege shaped Rollins School of Public Health, and how his legacy lives on within our walls.
William (Bill) Foege, MD, was often called a “giant” in public health. It was not just his six-foot-seven-inch stature that won him the title, although it did not hurt. He advanced the field further than arguably anyone else since 19th century greats John Snow and Louis Pasteur, the fathers of modern epidemiology and germ theory, respectively.
Foege began his career as a medical missionary in Nigeria, where he first pioneered the smallpox vaccination method that eventually led the disease to be eradicated. He went on to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, leading the nation’s early response to the AIDS epidemic, then led The Carter Center upon its founding in 1986. Foege founded The Task Force for Global Health, then called The Task Force for Child Survival, in 1984, and headed it until 2000.
Foege passed away peacefully in his home in January 2026.
For the myriad ways he improved health and well-being, Foege will be remembered as a modern hero of public health to the world. But to the Rollins School of Public Health community, he will be remembered as a mentor, a leader, and a friend.
James Curran, MD, dean emeritus of Rollins School of Public Health, with Foege.
Building Rollins Global Health
While directing the CDC’s AIDS response in the early 80’s, Foege met and worked closely with James Curran, MD, who served as dean of the Rollins School of Public Health from 1995 to 2022. Foege recommended him for the job.
In 1997, Curran recruited Foege to Rollins.
“I was afraid that he was going to take a job somewhere else,” recalls Curran. “So, I went to see him, and I said, ‘You ought to come be a professor at Emory.’ He said, ‘Well, what would I do?’
"I said, ‘Just be Bill Foege.’”
And that is what he did. When he arrived at Rollins, Foege brought a clear vision for what he wanted to accomplish:
- Establish an endowed professorship to expand global health efforts
- Grow global field experience opportunities (including funding and partnerships)
- Teach innovative, impact-driven courses
He accomplished all three. The endowed William H. Foege Distinguished Professorship is currently held by Mohammed Ali, MD, in the Hubert Department of Global Health. That professorship, and the school’s global health department, were funded thanks to Foege introducing Dick and Linda Hubert to the school. Foege also helped secure funds to ensure that Rollins’ Global Field Experience program could expand, sending more MPH students abroad to complete their practicums.
Students who were lucky enough to enroll in Foege’s first course at the school had an unforgettable, hands-on experience.
“At that time, the Turner Foundation pledged $1 billion to the United Nations (UN) and established the UN Foundation to address global health and environmental issues,” says Curran. “Bill taught a course helping students develop recommendations on what the UN should do with that donation, and they actually presented it to the Turner Foundation at the end of the semester.”
“What Bill Foege helped all of us remember, if we ever forgot it, is that public health is about people. Keeping it people centered is how we're going to get through this and solve problems together.”
Joanne Henderson, MD
A Lasting Legacy, in the Classroom and Beyond
Even today, Foege’s influence continues to permeate classrooms at Rollins. All master’s students in the Hubert Department of Global Health take GH 501, a course which integrates his “nine lessons” framework.
Students regularly connect course material to Foege’s principles, which draw on lessons from the campaign to eradicate smallpox. In course feedback, students consistently feel the framework has enriched their understanding of global health.
“Using this framework is such an important part of keeping his work alive. He did such monumental work, and given his relationship with the school, we knew we had to use this as a resource,” says Joanne Henderson, MD, associate dean of community, wellness, and belonging. Henderson led the school’s efforts to bring Foege’s lessons to its global health students.
Coursework is not the only way that Foege’s legacy lives on at Rollins. In 2003, the Gates Foundation established the Foege Fellowship. The fellowship supports international students, primarily from low- and middle-income countries, coming to Rollins for their MPH.
Throughout his life, Foege remained deeply engaged with the program and its fellows.
“Bill always met with the fellows every year to find out who they were, hear their stories, and tell them his stories,” says Deborah McFarland, PhD, who directed the program from its founding until early 2026. “He was always giving opportunities for others to shine.”
This opportunity for training and mentorship has helped launch fellows into impactful public health leadership roles in their home countries and beyond.
Being a Good Ancestor
Foege’s influence on Rollins extends far beyond students and faculty. He made a lasting impression on staff across the school, including the Rollins fulfillment services team.
The team worked with Foege for his transportation needs, and through the process forged a strong bond. Vanda Hudson, senior director of operations for fulfillment services, fondly remembers when Foege gave a talk at her team’s yearly leadership planning meeting.
“For him to take the time to sit down with my team and tell them how important their work is to public health, it really made a difference,” says Hudson. “It made them see themselves as part of public health. Not just somebody putting out tables and delivering supplies, but as actually being a unit that contributes to the public health message.
"He took time for everyone. He took time for the president of the United States, and he took time for the fulfillment services team.”
This relationship is exemplary of one of Foege’s central philosophies, the idea of being a good ancestor.
“Being a good ancestor, to him, meant that you train other people to care for other people,” says Curran. “In that way, his influence goes well beyond his own life, because so many people were influenced by him.”
“What Bill Foege helped all of us remember, if we ever forgot it, is that public health is about people,” says Henderson. “Keeping it people centered is how we're going to get through this and solve problems together.”
Although with Foege’s passing, the world lost a giant of a man, his legacy lives on in the students he mentored, the systems and programs he shaped, and the lives he touched.
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Rollins Magazine is published twice a year by the Rollins School of Public Health, a component of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University, for alumni and friends of the school.