AIC Welcomes John Auerbach to Public Health Lecture Series

SPRINGFIELD — American International College (AIC) established the Desmond Tutu Public Health Lecture Series in 2010 to bring awareness to the issue of public health. Archbishop Desmond Tutu served as the series’ inaugural speaker.

The annual lecture series continues on Monday, March 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. with keynote speaker John Auerbach, president and CEO for Trust for America’s Health. Auerbach oversees the organization’s work to promote sound public health policy and make disease prevention a national priority.

Over the course of a 30-year career, he has held senior public-health positions at the federal, state, and local levels. He served as associate director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he oversaw policy and the agency’s collaborative efforts with commercial payers and large health systems.

Auerbach additionally served for six years as the Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In that role, he developed innovative programs to promote health equity, combat chronic and infectious disease, and support successful implementation of the state’s healthcare-reform initiative.

As Boston’s health commissioner for nine years, Auerbach directed homeless, substance-abuse, and emergency medical services for the city as well as a wide range of public-health divisions. In addition, he was a professor of Practice in Health Sciences and director of the Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice at Northeastern University, program director of one of the country’s first community health centers, and director of a clinical training program at a tertiary-care safety-net hospital.

The lecture will be held in the Campus Center Auditorium on the campus of American International College, located at 1000 State St. The event is free and open to the public. To register or for more information, contact Kristi Gosselin at (413) 205-3565 or kristi.gosselin@aic.edu.