Solveig Argeseanu Cunningham Wins Marion V. Creekmore Award for Internationalization

By Shelby Crosier

Solveig Argeseanu Cunningham, PhD, professor of global health, has been selected as the winner of the 2023-2024 Marion V. Creekmore Award for Internationalization. The Creekmore Award is given annually by the Emory University Office of Global Strategy and Initiatives in recognition of a faculty member who excels in the advancement of the university’s commitment to internationalization through their teaching, scholarship, and work. This award honors the legacy of Ambassador Marion V. Creekmore, who served as Emory University's first vice provost for international affairs.

“I am honored to receive the Marion V. Creekmore Award. Upon receiving the news, I decided to learn more from Ambassador Creekmore to live up to the award in his honor,” says Cunningham. “His writing offers guidance for advancing international communication and cooperation. This guidance is also directly relevant to Emory’s mission of scholarship, service, and teaching the next generation of global citizens.”

Cunningham is an expert in demography, international development, and chronic disease epidemiology. Her research focuses on chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes, migration and globalization, and child health and its ramifications across the life course. She works on projects to understand and improve health in the United States, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

“Solveig is an outstanding teacher, mentor, and scholar, and her passion and commitment to global health and to advancing Emory's footprint in global health are second to none,” says Usha Ramakrishnan, PhD, Distinguished Richard N. Hubert Professor and chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health. “She has trained and mentored a large of number of fellows and students, and her research on the sociology and demography of chronic diseases, especially obesity, is cutting edge and innovative.”

Cunningham joins many Rollins colleagues on the list of Creekmore Award recipients. Previous Rollins faculty awardees include Kathryn Yount (2021-2022), Ramakrishnan (2020-2021), Uriel Kitron (2018-2019), K.M. Venkat Narayan (2017-2018), Jeffrey Koplan (2015-2016), Henry Blumberg (2014-2015), Reynaldo Martorell (2008-2009), and Carlos del Rio (2007-2008).