Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Paul Farmer wins $100,000 Austin College award

Harvard professor and international health advocate Dr. Paul Farmer has won the 2007 Austin College Leadership Award, whose $100,000 prize he plans to give to Partners In Health, the college said.

"Dr. Farmer’s life really exemplifies service," college president Oscar C. Page said in an interview. "We felt his life in Haiti and other parts of the world would certainly be a great role model for our students."

Last year, when the award was established, the winner was Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America. Farmer was nominated by Austin alum Dr. Barry Mills of Cambridge Health Alliance.

Farmer will accept the award tomorrow at the Belo Mansion in Dallas.

"I am so grateful to receive this award," Farmer said in a statement. "I want to use these resources to further our goal of promoting health and human rights and to ensure that Partners In Health's work is able to continue for years to come."

Farmer is a founding director of Partners In Health, which builds hospitals and provides health services in parts of the world affected by poverty, violence, and disease. His work in Haiti was described in the best-selling book, "Mountains Beyond Mountains," by Tracy Kidder. Austin College will distribute the book to its incoming freshmen, who will hear Farmer at their convocation in September.

Farmer's other honors include a "genius" grant from the MacArthur Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize of $1.5 million, which he also gave to PIH, and the American Medical Association’s International Physician Award.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 06:55 AM

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