Princeton University

Tilghman names committee to guide health and well-being

Princeton NJ — President Tilghman has appointed a committee to carry forward the work of the Task Force on Health and Well-Being.

The Advisory Board to Healthier Princeton met for the first time in May. The 24-member group includes students, faculty, alumni, administrators and outside experts. It is co-chaired by Janet Dickerson, vice president for campus life, and Robert Durkee, vice president and secretary, who also co-chaired the Task Force on Health and Well-Being.

An outgrowth of the task force’s work has been the creation of “Healthier Princeton,” an integrated program of health promotion/education, disease detection/prevention and fitness/wellness services for students, faculty and staff. Healthier Princeton will be based on an assessment of the academic, cultural, physical and social environments of the campus and their impact upon the health and well-being of all members of the University community.

The task force, appointed by Tilghman in fall 2003, issued interim reports in January and June 2004 and a final report in November 2004. It proposed several significant changes in University policies and programs to address the health care needs and promote the health and well-being of students, faculty and staff. Recommendations in the final report included: a substantial increase in the size of the University Health Services staff; major improvements of the facilities at McCosh Health Center and Dillon Gymnasium; appointment of a work-life coordinator; and a considerable expansion of the child care opportunities available to members of the University community.

An outgrowth of the task force’s work has been the creation of “Healthier Princeton,” an integrated program of health promotion/education, disease detection/prevention and fitness/wellness services for students, faculty and staff. Healthier Princeton will be based on an assessment of the academic, cultural, physical and social environments of the campus and their impact upon the health and well-being of all members of the University community. The new committee will advise the offices responsible for this initiative and the senior officers of the University.

Members of the committee are: Megan Adams, director of risk management and assistant treasurer; Ruth Berkelman, a 1973 alumna who is the Rollins Professor of Public Health and director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness and Research at Emory University; Thomas Brei-denthal, dean of religious life; Gray Ellrodt, a 1970 alumnus who is chair of the Department of Medicine at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass.; Kenneth Jamison, a graduate student; Richard Krugman, a 1963 alumnus who is dean of the University of Colorado School of Medicine; Sanjeev Kulkarni, professor of electrical engineering and master of Butler College; David Leach, associate director of athletics for campus recreation; Esther Lee, an undergraduate; Alison Nelson, director of benefits in the Office of Human Resources; Christina Paxson, professor of economics and public affairs; Terri Harris Reed, vice provost for institutional equity and diversity; Dwayne Rex, senior maintenance mechanic in facilities; Lauren Robinson-Brown, director of communications; Inez Scribner, president of the auxiliary to the McCosh Infirmary; Karin Sigloch, a graduate student; Daniel Silverman, chief medical officer and executive director of University Health Services; Lianne Sullivan-Crowley, vice president for human resources; Paula Swinford, director of health promotion and prevention services at the University of Southern California and former president of the American College Health Association; Brigham Walker, an undergraduate; Garth Walters, director of environmental health and safety; and Karen Woodbridge, director of community relations in the Office of Community and Regional Affairs.