This named fund was established in 2009 through a generous donation from Richard E. Hoffman, MD, MPH, EIS ’78. This fund is used to honor the career of the late Dr. Jonathan M. Mann. To this end, funds are used in support of the annual Jonathan M. Mann Memorial Lecture. This lecture is administered by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) during their annual conference.

Jonathan Max Mann, MD, MPH, EIS '75, was called the “architect of the global mobilization against AIDS” for his role as the founding director of the World Health Organization’s Global Program on AIDS. But Dr. Jonathan Mann was also an accomplished state epidemiologist, serving the state of NewMexico in that capacity for nearly a decade, from 1975–1984.

The world lost one of its greatest public health allies when Dr. Mann lost his life in the Swissair plane crash off Nova Scotia in 1998. His wife, Dr. Mary Lou Clements-Mann, also died in the crash. He is survived by his mother, Ida Mann, and children, Naomi, Lydia and Aaron Mann.

Dr. Mann was instrumental in coalescing governments and individuals to view AIDS as a human rights concern as much as a public health issue, defining AIDS as a social problem to be solved.That action reflected a larger view that public health should be seen as interwoven into the social fabric. “Public health,” he wrote, “too often studies health without intruding upon larger, societal, inescapably value-laden issues.”

Dr. Mann’s life was replete with education and accomplishments. He had two degrees from Harvard and an MD from the Washington University School of Medicine. He was a former state epidemiologist and deputy director of the New Mexico Health Department. He was a former officer of CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, and he taught epidemiology and international health at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he also directed the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights. Dr. Mann also organized and directed the international collaborative AIDS Research Project in Kinshasa, Zaire.

The Jonathan M. Mann Memorial Lectureship is made possible annually by the CDC Foundation with proceeds from a generous gift from Richard E. Hoffman, MD, MPH, of Denver, Colorado.

About the Epidemic Intelligence Service Fund

The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) trains disease detectives working on the public health front lines as they manage infectious disease investigations and conduct research both nationally and internationally. Donations to the EIS Fund support the EIS Alumni Association in their efforts to not only support the alumni of the program through the development of collaboration tools and hosting of networking events, but also in their efforts to help recruit and educate future disease detectives. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) EIS program is a unique 2-year post-graduate training program of service and on-the-job learning for health professionals interested in the practice of applied epidemiology. Since 1951, over 3,000 EIS officers have responded to requests for epidemiologic assistance within the United States and throughout the world.
 

About the EIS Alumni Association

The Epidemic Intelligence Service Alumni Association represents nearly 3,500 EIS graduates worldwide and provides the means for alumni to connect with the EIS program and other former EIS officers. Only former EIS graduates are eligible to join. 

The EIS Alumni Association has been charged with raising awareness of the EIS program and its important and critical work in public health. It also helps foster a spirit of loyalty to the EIS program through its communications and award activities. Each year members are encouraged to nominate individuals for the Friend of EIS Award, which is awarded to a person who has made significant contributions to the EIS program and its participants. Additionally, the Association’s Executive Committee reviews submissions and selects a winner for the prestigious Alexander D. Langmuir Prize. This award is presented annually to an EIS officer who submits the most outstanding manuscript covering an epidemiologic investigation or study. Other activities include conducting the annual EIS Alumni Association business meeting to be held in conjunction with the EIS Annual Conference, as well as general support of the EIS Program Office.