$2 Million Gift Supports OHSU-PSU School of Public Health
Boston-based philanthropists Lisa and Jim Mooney have made a $2 million gift to the Oregon Health & Science University – Portland State University School of Public Health to advance the important role that public health practitioners, scientists, and educators play in shaping a healthier, more equitable world.
The Mooney family’s contribution will provide flexible resources to engage students and faculty, advance relevant science, and deepen the school’s commitment to addressing equitable public health outcomes.
David Bangsberg, MD, MPH
“Today marginalized populations – including Black, Indigenous and people of color, immigrants, and those living in poverty or without secure housing – are being disproportionately impacted by various public health challenges, including COVID-19,” said Dean Bangsberg, M.D., M.P.H., dean of the OHSU- PSU School of Public Health. “This wonderful gift will help us take important steps to confront the social determinants of health and help us boldly tackle oppressive structures within our own academic sphere.”
“The confluence of two public health crises – COVID-19 and racism – has highlighted an imperative to examine every aspect of public health through an equity lens,” said OHSU President Danny Jacobs, M.D., M.P.H., FACS. “Mr. and Mrs. Mooney’s generous investment will strengthen our joint School of Public Health’s ability to support the well-being and health needs of our underserved populations.”
“Dr. Bangsberg approaches complex issues with enormous practicality, humanism, and humility,” said Lisa Mooney. “Our family has known him for more than 20 years, and we have tremendous faith in his passion and vision – and in his ability to inspire the next generation of young people.”
Lisa Mooney is a member of an advisory board supporting the school. Her husband Jim Mooney is partner and president of investment management firm The Baupost Group.
The couple previously supported Bangsberg’s work at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, where he held numerous faculty and research roles before joining the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health as its founding dean in 2016.
The OHSU-PSU School of Public Health is Oregon’s only urban school of public health, and one of only a handful in the nation that bring the collaborative power of two major research and practice universities together. Its faculty are dedicated to educating students of all backgrounds who want to enter the public health field to improve lives in their communities and to change the world for the better.
“This is a remarkable moment for students to learn in real time what public health is designed to do,” said PSU President Stephen Percy. “This generous gift will profoundly strengthen the school’s ability to serve them.”
About the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health
The Oregon Health & Science University – Portland State University School of Public Health brings the collaborative power of two major research universities together to create Oregon’s only urban school of public health. This unique collaboration combines the strengths of a world-class academic health center with the deep community involvement and diversity of the state’s urban research university. With a focus on community-engaged learning and scholarship, students and researchers are in the center of an established network of local and regional partners, including clinics and governmental and non-profit agencies. Committed to improving lives in their communities, our students work to find enduring and sustainable solutions to today’s real-world public health problems.