Ms. Carol S. Larson, president and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Larson has had a profound impact on public health in the U.S. and globally through her leadership in building successful collaborations to increase access to high-quality reproductive health care, tackle climate change and support land conservation, and ensure communities and families are supported and have the best chance at leading healthy lives.
Under Larson’s direction, the Packard Foundation was among the first private philanthropies to make a big bet to address climate change, first with a $500 million multi-year investment in 2008 toward efforts aimed at mitigating climate change—in particular, the adoption of policies that limit annual global greenhouse gas emissions—which was followed by another $350 million commitment to augment and extend the work.
The foundation has focused on the pathway of achieving sexual and reproductive health and rights since its inception, continuing to connect the deep social, economic, and developmental impacts this area has on women and girls’ chances for success and wellness. And with Larson at the helm, the foundation is working to ensure all children have access to early learning opportunities and a healthy course forward.
“Ms. Larson has dedicated her career to addressing some of the most pressing public health challenges of our time and ensuring opportunities for collaboration and advancement of health for so many communities,” says dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Dr. Jody Heymann . “I’m thrilled that Ms. Larson—a powerful example of all that is possible for our graduates to achieve—has agreed to deliver this year’s Fielding School of Public Health commencement address.”
Larson’s professional path in public health began with her interest in the rights of children, particularly those who had been abused or neglected. While she was in law school the Education for All Handicapped Children Act took effect and, after a clerkship for the Honorable Warren J. Ferguson of the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California, she worked with a nonprofit agency in Los Angeles for two years training parents how to advocate for the rights of their children under the new law.
Larson’s numerous accomplishments in the philanthropic sector were recognized by the Council on Foundations in 2016 with their highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, which “celebrates visionary leaders who embody those inspirational qualities that define excellence in philanthropy—commitment, courage, entrepreneurship, and impact.”
The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health commencement ceremony will be held at UCLA’s Royce Hall on June 15. The ceremony, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30pm PDT, can be viewed publicly via livestream.
The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health , founded in 1961, is dedicated to enhancing the public's health by conducting innovative research, training future leaders and health professionals from diverse backgrounds, translating research into policy and practice, and serving our local communities and the communities of the nation and the world. The school has 650 students from more than 35 nations engaged in carrying out the vision of building healthy futures in greater Los Angeles, California, the nation and the world.
Faculty Referenced by this Article
Jody Heymann
Epidemiology
Health Policy and Management
Marissa Seamans
Epidemiology
Michael Goldstein
Community Health Sciences
Michael Jerrett
Environmental Health Sciences
Lara Cushing
Environmental Health Sciences
May Sudhinaraset
Community Health Sciences
Cathy Lang
Assistant Dean for Research & Adjunct Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences
Community Health Sciences
Catherine Carpenter
Epidemiology
Dallas Swendeman
Epidemiology
Robert Erin Weiss
Biostatistics
William G. Cumberland
Biostatistics
Pouran D. Faghri
Environmental Health Sciences
Kimberly Gregory
Community Health Sciences
Jean Balgrosky
Health Policy and Management
Nicole Green
Environmental Health Sciences
Marjan Javanbakht
Epidemiology
Richard Ambrose
Environmental Health Sciences
Maral DerSarkissian
Epidemiology
Irwin Suffet
Environmental Health Sciences
Brunilda Balliu
Biostatistics
Roshan Bastani
Health Policy and Management
Vonthanak Saphonn
Epidemiology
Clifford Ko
Health Policy and Management
Feng Gao
Environmental Health Sciences
Wendie Robbins
Environmental Health Sciences
Naomi Greene
Epidemiology
Zuo-Feng Zhang
Epidemiology
Moira Inkelas
Health Policy and Management
Dena Herman
Community Health Sciences
Barbara Berman
Health Policy and Management
Jessica Gipson
Community Health Sciences
Thomas D. Gordon
Health Policy and Management
William J. McCarthy
Health Policy and Management
Hamid Arabzadeh
Environmental Health Sciences
Anne Coleman
Epidemiology
Sander Greenland
Epidemiology
Susan Ettner
Health Policy and Management
Timothy Malloy
Environmental Health Sciences
Sheena G. Sullivan
Epidemiology
Patricia Ganz
Health Policy and Management
Christina Ramirez
Biostatistics
Sangeeta Ahluwalia
Health Policy and Management
Philip Massey
Community Health Sciences
Jonathan Fielding
Health Policy and Management
Dawn Upchurch
Community Health Sciences
Paul Dluzniewski
Epidemiology
Shira Shafir
Community Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Thomas R. Belin
Biostatistics
Marc Suchard
Biostatistics
Elizabeth D’Amico
Community Health Sciences
Thomas Priselac
Health Policy and Management
Jared Diamond
Environmental Health Sciences
Annette Maxwell
Health Policy and Management
Angelo Bellomo
Environmental Health Sciences
Jingyi Jessica Li
Biostatistics
André Nel
Environmental Health Sciences
Robert Schiestl
Environmental Health Sciences
Xi Zhu
Health Policy and Management
Sung-Jae Lee
Epidemiology
Ron Andersen
Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.
Health Policy and Management
Ronald Halbert
Community Health Sciences
Michele Guindani
Biostatistics
Jose J. Escarce
Health Policy and Management
James Macinko
Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research
Community Health Sciences
Health Policy and Management
Beth Glenn
Health Policy and Management
Thomas Rice
Health Policy and Management
Kristen Choi
Health Policy and Management
Mark Litwin
Health Policy and Management
Alan Tomines
Health Policy and Management
Ron D. Hays
@UCLA since 1997
Health Policy and Management
Jennifer Wortham
Health Policy and Management
Gilbert C. Gee
Community Health Sciences
Donatello Telesca
Biostatistics
Lisa V. Smith
Epidemiology
Corrina Moucheraud
Health Policy and Management
Lawrence Ash
Epidemiology
Ximena Vergara
Epidemiology
Andrew Holbrook
Biostatistics
Neal Halfon
Health Policy and Management
Nadereh Pourat
Health Policy and Management
Kimberley Shoaf
Community Health Sciences
Jack Needleman
Health Policy and Management
Jesus Araujo
Environmental Health Sciences
Avram Kaplan
Health Policy and Management
Jeanne Miranda
Health Policy and Management
Michelle S. Keller
Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.
Health Policy and Management
Sarah Blenner
Director of Field Studies and Applied Professional Training
Community Health Sciences
Ilan H. Meyer
Community Health Sciences
Lillian Gelberg
Health Policy and Management
Courtney S. Thomas Tobin
Community Health Sciences
Frederick Zimmerman
Health Policy and Management
Curtis Eckhert
Environmental Health Sciences
Catherine M. Crespi
Biostatistics
Richard J. Jackson
Environmental Health Sciences
Samuel Stratton
Community Health Sciences
Niklas Krause
Environmental Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Jonathan Jacobs
Epidemiology
Daniel Uslan
Environmental Health Sciences
Karin B. Michels
Epidemiology
Judith M. Siegel
Community Health Sciences
Diana Bonta
Community Health Sciences
Matthew J. Mimiaga
Epidemiology
May C. Wang
Community Health Sciences
David Hayes-Bautista
Health Policy and Management
Sudipto Banerjee
Biostatistics
Chandra Ford
Community Health Sciences
Kevin Njabo
Environmental Health Sciences
Lori Pelliccioni
Health Policy and Management
Vickie Mays
Health Policy and Management
Jason H. Moore
Automated and accessible artificial intelligence methods and software for biomedical data science.
Biostatistics
Yvonne Flores
Health Policy and Management
Dvora Joseph Davey
Dr. Joseph Davey is an infectious disease epidemiologist with over 20 years' experience leading research on HIV/STI services for women and children.
Epidemiology
Donald E. Morisky
Community Health Sciences
Bo-Kyung Elizabeth Kim
Community Health Sciences
Samuel Sessions
Health Policy and Management
David Eisenman
Community Health Sciences
Elizabeth Yzquierdo
Community Health Sciences
Leah Vriesman
Health Policy and Management
Felicia Hodge
Health Policy and Management
Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez
Community Health Sciences
Jennifer A. Wagman
Community Health Sciences
Diana Hilberman
Health Policy and Management
Rachael Jones
Environmental Health Sciences
Kelika Konda
Epidemiology
Julia Bailey
Epidemiology
Haroutune Armenian
Epidemiology
Warren Scott Comulada
Health Policy and Management
Dana Rose Garfin
Community Health Sciences
Roberta Malmgren
Epidemiology
Frank J. Sorvillo
Epidemiology
Pablo Cicero-Fernandez
Environmental Health Sciences
Yusuke Tsugawa
Health Policy and Management
Paul Chung
Health Policy and Management
Ron Brookmeyer
Biostatistics
Srikanth Kadiyala
Health Policy and Management
Teresa Ellen Seeman
Epidemiology
Robert Brook
Health Policy and Management
Weng Kee Wong
Biostatistics
Kirsten Schwarz
Environmental Health Sciences
Wendelin Slusser
Community Health Sciences
Brennan Spiegel
Health Policy and Management
Brian Cole
Environmental Health Sciences
Martin L. Lee
Biostatistics
Dylan Roby
Health Policy and Management
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh
Epidemiology
Dorota M. Dabrowska
Biostatistics
Annette Regan
Epidemiology
Naomi Zewde
Health Policy and Management
Sheba George
Community Health Sciences
Ralph R. Frerichs
Epidemiology
Julie A. Elginer
EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program
Health Policy and Management
Otoniel Martinez-Maza
Epidemiology
Anne Pebley
Community Health Sciences
Michael Ong
Health Policy and Management
Shane Que Hee
Industrial Hygiene & Analytical Chemistry
Environmental Health Sciences
Tao Huai
Environmental Health Sciences
Virginia C. Li
Community Health Sciences
Peter Katona
Epidemiology
Ondine S. von Ehrenstein
Community Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Isomi Miake-Lye
Health Policy and Management
Roch A. Nianogo
Epidemiology
Robert Kaplan
Health Policy and Management
Hilary Aralis
Biostatistics
Robert J. Kim-Farley
Robert J. Kim-Farley, MD, MPH, is a Professor-in-Residence with joint appointments in the Departments of Epidemiology and Community Health Sciences
Community Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Carol Mangione
Health Policy and Management
Christie Jeon
Epidemiology
Timothy Brewer
Epidemiology
William Comanor
Health Policy and Management
Susan Cochran
Epidemiology
Beate Ritz
Environmental Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Marjorie Kagawa-Singer
Community Health Sciences
Michael Prelip
Community Health Sciences
Ninez Ponce
Health Policy and Management
Dana Hunnes
Community Health Sciences
Oliver Hankinson
Dr. Hankinson is a Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and of EHS, and Chair of the Molecular Toxicology IDP
Environmental Health Sciences
Sean Darling-Hammond
Biostatistics
Community Health Sciences
Randall Kuhn
Community Health Sciences
Risha Gidwani
Health Policy and Management
Abdelmonem A. Afifi
Biostatistics
Alina Dorian
Community Health Sciences
Michael Rodriguez
Community Health Sciences
Elizabeth (Becky) Yano
Health Policy and Management
Akihiro Nishi
Epidemiology
Paul Fu, Jr.
Health Policy and Management
Stephanie L. Taylor
Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.
Health Policy and Management
Michael Collins
Environmental Health Sciences
Jane Valentine
Environmental Health Sciences
Aria Fallah
Health Policy and Management
Paula Tavrow
Community Health Sciences
Brian Bradbury
Epidemiology
David Gjertson
Biostatistics
Arthur Winer
Environmental Health Sciences
Leeka I. Kheifets
Epidemiology
Laura Erskine
Health Policy and Management
Yifang Zhu
Environmental Health Sciences
Joann G. Elmore
Health Policy and Management
Miriam Marlier
Environmental Health Sciences
Emily Abel
Health Policy and Management
David Elashoff
Biostatistics
Arlene Fink
Health Policy and Management
Sandra Aronberg
Health Policy and Management
Steven Teutsch
Health Policy and Management
Alexandra Binder
Epidemiology
Daniel Eisenberg
Health Policy and Management
Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Health Policy and Management
Damla Senturk
Biostatistics
Olivia Jung
Health Policy and Management
Catherine Ann Sugar
Biostatistics
Ty Robbins
Health Policy and Management
Anthony Hunter Schiff
Health Policy and Management
Peter R. Kerndt
Epidemiology
Z. John Lu
Health Policy and Management
Onyebuchi A. Arah
Epidemiology
Candace Tsai
Associate Professor for Industrial Hygiene and Environmental Health Sciences
Environmental Health Sciences
Deborah Anne Freund
Health Policy and Management
Emily Beeler
Epidemiology
Kenneth Wells
Health Policy and Management
Valentine M. Villa
Community Health Sciences
Pamina Gorbach
Epidemiology
Elizabeth Rose Mayeda
Epidemiology
Gerald Kominski
Health Policy and Management
Nathan D. Wong
Epidemiology
Roger Detels
Epidemiology
Jian Li
Environmental Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Emmeline Chuang
Health Policy and Management
Natalie Muth
Community Health Sciences
Alice Kuo
Health Policy and Management
Linda Rosenstock
Environmental Health Sciences
Health Policy and Management
Deborah Glik
Community Health Sciences
Burt Cowgill
Health Policy and Management
Hyun J. Grace Kim
Biostatistics
Liwei Chen
Professor in Epidemiology
Epidemiology
Pamela Davidson
Health Policy and Management
Michael Galper
Health Policy and Management
Arthur Cho
Environmental Health Sciences
Charlotte G. Neumann
Community Health Sciences