Reader Responses to Welcoming Dr. Ashish Jha

I enjoyed President Paxson’s column “Welcoming Dr. Ashish Jha” as the dean of the School of Public Health (From the President, November-December). It was disappointing, however, that President Paxson’s welcome failed to acknowledge those who worked over long years to prepare the ground for Dean Jha’s arrival. I have in mind Professor Emerita Lois Monteiro ’70 PhD, who joined the faculty in 1974 and served at different times as chair of the Department of Community Health and associate dean of the Alpert Medical School. Her pioneering research on women’s recovery from heart attacks is still cited. She served on many committees including a National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine panel that helped reshape U.S. reproductive health policy and increase the contraceptive methods available to American women. Lois’s administrative roles, her teaching and mentoring, her service, and her research helped initiate and keep alive a public health orientation on the Brown campus. Dr. Jha, the School of Public Health community, and through them our nation and the world are benefiting from Lois’s vision, commitment, and dedicated work.