^HJNCW toda
Vol. IX, No. 4
news from UNC by the sea
MARCH, 1985
Smallpox fighter receives Schweitzer
Prize for l\/ledicine
Dr. Donald A. Henderson
Dr. Donald Ainslie Henderson, the man
who led the global campaign that successful
ly eradicated smallpox, will receive the 1985
Albert Schweitzer International Prize for
Medicine.
Henderson is dean of The Johns Hopkins
University School of Hygiene and Public
Health and former director of the World
Health Organization’s smallpox eradication
program.
This prize and those awarded in music and
humanities will be presented in ceremonies
on March 21 at UNCW.
The Schweitzer Prize for Medicine is fund
ed by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a pri
vate non-profit foundation supported by the
Schweitzer Prizes Weel recognizes
excellence, offers musical entertainment
UNCW will be celebrating the presentation
of the third round of Albert Schweitzer Inter
national Prizes with a week highlighted by
musical events performed in honor of Bach’s
300 birthday. Bach was Schweitzer’s favorite
composer.
The Schweitzer Prizes recognize achieve
ment in medicine, music and the humanities,
the three areas in which Schweitzer excell
ed. The prizes will be presented in a ceremony
on Thursday, March 21, at 8 p.m. in UNCW’s
Kenan Auditorium. Admission is free and the
public is invited to attend.
The Wilmington Symphony and Wilming
ton Choral Society, joined by the UNCW Con
cert Choir, will present Bach’s St. Matthew
Passion on Sunday, March 17, at 3 p.m. in
Kenan Auditorium. General admission tick
ets are $5 for adults, $3 for students and
senior citizens, and free for UNCW students
with a valid I.D.
A free Bach memorial concert will be held
at St. James Episcopal Church on Tuesday,
March 19, at 7 p.m.
The North Carolina Symphony will perform
Bach Concerto in E major and Beethoven
Symphony No. 5 in C minor on Friday, March
22, at 8 p.m. in Kenan Auditorium. General
admission tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for
students and senior citizens, and free for
UNCW students with a valid I.D.
Tickets to performances at Kenan Auditor
ium will be available at the door.
Prize recipients are invited to attend all of
these events. They will also meet informal
ly with students and the general public on
March 20 and 21. One of the major reasons
for having the prizes at UNCW is to offer
students the opportunity for one-on-one con
tact with such distinguished individuals.
The Schweitzer Prizes are presented every
four years by the North Carolina Educa
tional, Historical and Scientific Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit foundation in Wilmington,
N.C. Previous recipients include well known
individuals such as Mother Teresa, one of the
worlds most admired humanitarians, and
music giants Andres Segovia and Gian Carlo
Menotti. Equally impressive but less recog
nized recipients are distinguished physicians
Larimer Mellon of Haiti, Theodor Binder of
Peru, and humanitarian Sadhu Ittyavira of
India. Prize winners receive a medal, design
ed this year by a UNCW student, and a
$5,000 cash award.
The Schweitzer International Prizes have
been associated with UNCW since the pro
gram’s inception in 1975 and are the only in
ternational prizes of their kind in the world,
and the first and only international prizes
given in North Carolina.
Burroughs Wellcome Company. Burroughs
Wellcome discovers, researches, and manu
factures pharmaceuticals for humans and
animals.
Henderson joined Johns Hopkins in 1977
following 10 years as chief of the global small
pox eradication campaign. During Hender
son’s first year as director of the WHO pro
gram, an estimated 10 to 15 million smallpox
cases occurred, causing two million deaths in
43 countries in Latin America, Africa and
Asia.
Under Henderson’s leadership, more than
700 advisors from 69 countries and 200,000
national health staff and volunteers worked
to wipe out the disease.
In 1975 a Bangladesh girl experienced the
last case of the most severe form of smallpox
and in 1977 an African man’s illness proved
to be the last natural occurrence of the dis
ease. In 1980 the World Health Assembly of
ficially declared that smallpox had been
eradicated.
Henderson received his A.B. degree from
Oberlin College in 1950 and his M.D. from the
University of Rochester School of Medicine in
1954. In 1960 he earned his Master of Public
Health ^degree from The Johns Hopkins
School of Hygiene and Public Health, which
he now directs. Henderson lives in Baltimore,
Maryland.
Ambassadors serve as campus diplomats
The United Nations, foreign countries and
UNCW all have something in common. All
have ambassadors as special envoys to the
public.
The UNCW Ambassadors serve as campus
diplomats, acting as hosts and hostesses at
various campus events, conducting tours of
the UNCW campus, and participating in re
cruitment programs for the university’s ad
missions and minority affairs office. Clad in
I
T
green blazers, the Ambassadors are easily
identifiable at a formal university function.
Established in 1982 by the alumni associa
tion, the UNCW Ambassadors have 15 stu
dent volunteers. All are undergraduates and
are selected on leadership capabilities, knowl
edge of the campus, and school spirit.
The Ambassadors program provides on-the-
job training in public relations skills, and in
things learned in the classroom.
"They get to polish their skills in dealing
with a variety of people, while learning a lit
tle bit about business, communications, mar
keting, and so forth,” said Frank Bowen,
alumni affairs officer and advisor to the
group.
The Ambassadors attend workshops at the
beginning of each school year and hold meet
ings throughout the year. The program offers
See Ambassadors, pg. 2
(Top to bottom) UNCW Ambassadors Ann
Kindt, Laura Allen and Meg Robison.
ALUMNI CALENDAR
March 17-23: Albert Schweitzer Prizes Week at
UNCW
March 26-28: Alumni Phonathon
Apr. 2-4: Alumni Phonathon
Apr. 11-14: North Carolina Azalea Festival, Wil
mington, N.C.
May 17: Alumni association’s welcome recep
tion for new graduates following com
mencement practice
May 18: Commencement
Presentation of Alumni Achievement
Award(s)
For more information, contact Frank Bowen, UNCW
Alumni Affairs Office, 601 S. College Rd., Wilming
ton, N.C. 28403. Phone (919) 395-3616.