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Desmond M. Tutu Professorship in Public Health and Human Rights

Bloomberg School of Public Health
Epidemiology

Established in 2014 by Ed and Kathy Ludwig and an Anonymous Donor in honor of Bishop Desmond M. Tutu

TutuDesmondBISHOP DESMOND M. TUTU was born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, Transvaal. His father was a teacher, and he himself was educated at Johannesburg Bantu High School. After leaving school he trained first as a teacher at Pretoria Bantu Normal College and in 1954 he graduated from the University of South Africa. After three years as a high school teacher he began to study theology, being ordained as a priest in 1960. The years 1962-66 were devoted to further theological study in England leading up to a Master of Theology. From 1967 to 1972 he taught theology in South Africa before returning to England for three years as the assistant director of a theological institute in London. In 1975 he was appointed Dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg, the first black to hold that position. From 1976 to 1978 he was Bishop of Lesotho, and in 1978 became the first black General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. Tutu is an honorary doctor of a number of leading universities in the USA, Britain and Germany.

As Archbishop of Capetown, Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his fight against South Africa’s apartheid laws, which were repealed in 1993. The new president, Nelson Mandela, entrusted Tutu with chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that investigated the atrocities committed under apartheid.

Held by Joseph Amon

Dr. JOSEPH AMON’s research in epidemiology centers on controlling infectious disease in clinical care settings in prisons and detention centers. He is senior editor of Health and Human Rights Journal and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the International AIDS Society. Dr. Amon advises The Global Fund and UNAIDS on human rights barriers to services for patients with HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Dr. Amon has held an appointment at the Bloomberg School as associate in Epidemiology since 2010. At Drexel University, he served from 2018 to 2024 as director of the Office of Global Health, director of the Jonathan Mann Global Health and Human Rights Initiative, and clinical teaching professor in the Department of Community Health and Prevention at the Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health. He was also an officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a research fellow at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

Dr. Amon has worked for a range of non-governmental organizations, including the World Health Organization and Helen Keller International. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and 100 book chapters, letters, commentaries, and opinion articles on issues related to public health and health policy.

Dr. Amon received his BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Hampshire College, an MSPH from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a PhD in molecular epidemiology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine.

Dr. Amon is dedicated to advancing human rights and equitable access to health for all. He is ideally qualified to advance the mission of our School and the Department of Epidemiology.