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
Thomas D. Gordon
Health Policy and Management
Annette Regan
Epidemiology
Linda Rosenstock
Environmental Health Sciences
Health Policy and Management
Charlotte G. Neumann
Community Health Sciences
Naomi Zewde
Health Policy and Management
Kelika Konda
Epidemiology
Wendelin Slusser
Community Health Sciences
Deborah Anne Freund
Health Policy and Management
Bo-Kyung Elizabeth Kim
Community Health Sciences
Barbara Berman
Health Policy and Management
Olivia Jung
Health Policy and Management
Marissa Seamans
Epidemiology
Anthony Hunter Schiff
Health Policy and Management
Shane Que Hee
Industrial Hygiene & Analytical Chemistry
Environmental Health Sciences
Akihiro Nishi
Epidemiology
Jonathan Fielding
Health Policy and Management
Julia Bailey
Epidemiology
Alice Kuo
Health Policy and Management
Samuel Sessions
Health Policy and Management
Paula Tavrow
Community Health Sciences
Moira Inkelas
Health Policy and Management
Candace Tsai
Associate Professor for Industrial Hygiene and Environmental Health Sciences
Environmental Health Sciences
May Sudhinaraset
Community Health Sciences
Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Health Policy and Management
Jean Balgrosky
Health Policy and Management
Sangeeta Ahluwalia
Health Policy and Management
Roshan Bastani
Health Policy and Management
Dorota M. Dabrowska
Biostatistics
Warren Scott Comulada
Health Policy and Management
Vilsa Eliana Curto
Health Policy and Management
Tao Huai
Environmental Health Sciences
Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne
Environmental Health Sciences
Richard Ambrose
Environmental Health Sciences
Onyebuchi A. Arah
Epidemiology
Clifford Ko
Health Policy and Management
Jason H. Moore
Automated and accessible artificial intelligence methods and software for biomedical data science.
Biostatistics
Paul Dluzniewski
Epidemiology
Jessica Gipson
Community Health Sciences
Elizabeth Rose Mayeda
Epidemiology
Sandra Aronberg
Health Policy and Management
Liwei Chen
Professor in Epidemiology
Epidemiology
Kristen Choi
Health Policy and Management
Matthew J. Mimiaga
Epidemiology
Randall Kuhn
Community Health Sciences
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh
Epidemiology
Wendie Robbins
Environmental Health Sciences
Timothy Brewer
Epidemiology
Andrew Holbrook
Biostatistics
Pablo Cicero-Fernandez
Environmental Health Sciences
Rachael Jones
Environmental Health Sciences
Arlene Fink
Health Policy and Management
Samuel Stratton
Community Health Sciences
William J. McCarthy
Health Policy and Management
Jeanne Miranda
Health Policy and Management
Catherine Ann Sugar
Biostatistics
Michael Galper
Health Policy and Management
William Comanor
Health Policy and Management
Avram Kaplan
Health Policy and Management
Srikanth Kadiyala
Health Policy and Management
Michael Prelip
Community Health Sciences
Robert Weiss
Biostatistics
Haroutune Armenian
Epidemiology
Brunilda Balliu
Biostatistics
Christina Ramirez
Biostatistics
Alexandra Binder
Epidemiology
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
Lillian Gelberg
Health Policy and Management
Donatello Telesca
Biostatistics
Kimberly Gregory
Community Health Sciences
Annette Maxwell
Health Policy and Management
Dawn Upchurch
Community Health Sciences
Dana Rose Garfin
Community Health Sciences
Ondine S. von Ehrenstein
Community Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Curtis Eckhert
Environmental Health Sciences
Anne Rimoin
Dr. Anne Rimoin is a Professor of Epidemiology and holds the Gordon–Levin Endowed Chair in Infectious Diseases and Public Health.
Epidemiology
Elizabeth (Becky) Yano
Health Policy and Management
André Nel
Environmental Health Sciences
Peter Katona
Epidemiology
Thomas Rice
Health Policy and Management
Frederick Zimmerman
Health Policy and Management
Ninez Ponce
Health Policy and Management
Mark Litwin
Health Policy and Management
Brian Bradbury
Epidemiology
Yusuke Tsugawa
Health Policy and Management
Richard J. Jackson
Environmental Health Sciences
Nadereh Pourat
Health Policy and Management
Dylan Roby
Health Policy and Management
Alan Tomines
Health Policy and Management
Sheba George
Community Health Sciences
Z. John Lu
Health Policy and Management
Marjorie Kagawa-Singer
Community Health Sciences
Jose J. Escarce
Health Policy and Management
Hyun J. Grace Kim
Biostatistics
Corrina Moucheraud
Health Policy and Management
Deborah Glik
Community Health Sciences
David Elashoff
Biostatistics
Timothy Malloy
Environmental Health Sciences
Robert Kaplan
Health Policy and Management
Dallas Swendeman
Epidemiology
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
Leah Vriesman
Health Policy and Management
Sheena G. Sullivan
Epidemiology
Brennan Spiegel
Health Policy and Management
Falco J. Bargagli Stoffi
Biostatistics
Gilbert C. Gee
Community Health Sciences
Elizabeth Yzquierdo
Community Health Sciences
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
Philip Massey
Community Health Sciences
Sander Greenland
Epidemiology
Natalie Muth
Community Health Sciences
Nicole Green
Environmental Health Sciences
Burt Cowgill
Health Policy and Management
Sudipto Banerjee
Biostatistics
Yvonne Flores
Health Policy and Management
Teresa Ellen Seeman
Epidemiology
Daniel Eisenberg
Health Policy and Management
Leeka I. Kheifets
Epidemiology
Ron D. Hays
Health Policy and Management
Virginia C. Li
Community Health Sciences
Judith M. Siegel
Community Health Sciences
Ximena Vergara
Epidemiology
Isomi Miake-Lye
Health Policy and Management
David Eisenman
Community Health Sciences
Xi Zhu
Health Policy and Management
Thomas Priselac
Health Policy and Management
Christie Jeon
Epidemiology
Alina Dorian
Community Health Sciences
Yifang Zhu
Environmental Health Sciences
Jesus Araujo
Environmental Health Sciences
Michael Goldstein
Community Health Sciences
Lisa V. Smith
Epidemiology
Emmeline Chuang
Health Policy and Management
Jared Diamond
Environmental Health Sciences
Anne Coleman
Epidemiology
Jonathan Jacobs
Epidemiology
Courtney S. Thomas Tobin
Community Health Sciences
Vickie Mays
Health Policy and Management
Beth Glenn
Health Policy and Management
Penelope Fu
Health Policy and Management
Frank J. Sorvillo
Epidemiology
Michael Jerrett
Environmental Health Sciences
Ty Robbins
Health Policy and Management
Jennifer Wortham
Health Policy and Management
Patricia Ganz
Health Policy and Management
Marjan Javanbakht
Epidemiology
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
Aria Fallah
Health Policy and Management
David Gjertson
Biostatistics
Irwin Suffet
Environmental Health Sciences
Cathy Lang
Assistant Dean for Research & Adjunct Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences
Community Health Sciences
William G. Cumberland
Biostatistics
Dena Herman
Community Health Sciences
Whitney Pirtle
Community Health Sciences
Pouran D. Faghri
Environmental Health Sciences
Niklas Krause
Environmental Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Lori Pelliccioni
Health Policy and Management
Pamina Gorbach
Epidemiology
Donald E. Morisky
Community Health Sciences
Thomas R. Belin
Biostatistics
Susan Cochran
Epidemiology
Jian Li
Environmental Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Ron Andersen
Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.
Health Policy and Management
Otoniel Martinez-Maza
Epidemiology
Kirsten Schwarz
Environmental Health Sciences
Rebecca Delafield
Community Health Sciences
Sung-Jae Lee
Epidemiology
Naomi Greene
Epidemiology
Emily Abel
Health Policy and Management
Arthur Cho
Environmental Health Sciences
Maral DerSarkissian
Epidemiology
Steven Teutsch
Health Policy and Management
Michele Guindani
Biostatistics
Neal Halfon
Health Policy and Management
Laura Erskine
Health Policy and Management
Angie Otiniano Verissimo
Community Health Sciences
Dana Hunnes
Community Health Sciences
Vonthanak Saphonn
Epidemiology
Joseph Zoller
Biostatistics
Shira Shafir
Community Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Peter R. Kerndt
Epidemiology
Anne Pebley
Community Health Sciences
Robert Brook
Health Policy and Management
Abdelmonem A. Afifi
Biostatistics
Beate Ritz
Environmental Health Sciences
Epidemiology
Michael Ong
Health Policy and Management
Angelo Bellomo
Environmental Health Sciences
Risha Gidwani
Health Policy and Management
Felicia Hodge
Health Policy and Management
Zuo-Feng Zhang
Epidemiology
Robert Schiestl
Environmental Health Sciences
Brian Cole
Environmental Health Sciences
Miriam Marlier
Environmental Health Sciences
Jack Needleman
Health Policy and Management
Arthur Winer
Environmental Health Sciences
Susan Ettner
Health Policy and Management
Damla Senturk
Biostatistics
Ron Brookmeyer
Biostatistics
Paul Chung
Health Policy and Management
Catherine M. Crespi
Biostatistics
Kevin Njabo
Environmental Health Sciences
Daniel Uslan
Environmental Health Sciences
Jingyi Jessica Li
Biostatistics
Diana Hilberman
Health Policy and Management
David Hayes-Bautista
Health Policy and Management
Nathan D. Wong
Epidemiology
Roberta Malmgren
Epidemiology
May C. Wang
Community Health Sciences
Feng Gao
Environmental Health Sciences
Jennifer A. Wagman
Community Health Sciences
Elizabeth D’Amico
Community Health Sciences
Martin L. Lee
Biostatistics
James Macinko
Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research
Community Health Sciences
Health Policy and Management
Lara Cushing
Environmental Health Sciences
Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez
Community Health Sciences
Ralph R. Frerichs
Epidemiology
Ronald Halbert
Community Health Sciences
Weng Kee Wong
Biostatistics
Michael Collins
Environmental Health Sciences
Hamid Arabzadeh
Environmental Health Sciences
Michael Rodriguez
Community Health Sciences
Jane Valentine
Environmental Health Sciences
Karin B. Michels
Epidemiology
Marc Suchard
Biostatistics
Sarah Blenner
Director of Field Studies and Applied Professional Training
Community Health Sciences
Roch A. Nianogo
Epidemiology
Pamela Davidson
Health Policy and Management
Kimberley Shoaf
Community Health Sciences
Joann G. Elmore
Health Policy and Management
Kenneth Wells
Health Policy and Management
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
Lawrence Ash
Epidemiology
Roger Detels
Epidemiology
Carol Mangione
Health Policy and Management
Chandra Ford
Community Health Sciences
Stephanie L. Taylor
Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.
Health Policy and Management
Gerald Kominski
Health Policy and Management
Ilan H. Meyer
Community Health Sciences