The Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington is pleased to announce that consumer advocate and environmental activist Erin Brockovich will deliver the Ruth Clifford Engs Lecture in Public Health: "The Power of One" on Tuesday, February 10 at the Indiana Memorial Union.
Brockovich is a renowned advocate, activist, speaker, and author who has worked fiercely and tirelessly on matters of environmental health and social justice. She is the founder of Community Healthbook—a website that allows individuals to view and share issues and concerns related to health and the environment in their communities. She is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the Special Citizen Award from the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition, the Lifesaver Award from Lymphoma Research Foundation of America, and the Champions of Children Award from Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She also served as the inspiration behind the titular 2000 film Erin Brockovich—a depiction of her time as a file clerk at a legal office, where she was instrumental in building the multimillion-dollar case against Pacific Gas & Electric for contaminating the water of a California town.
The lecture will take place from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union (IMU). The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required. Brockovich will also participate in a special Q&A conversation with students from 3 to 4 p.m. in Whittenberger Auditorium at the IMU. This event is free but open to IU students only and requires a separate RSVP.
The namesake of the lecture, Ruth Engs, is a professor emeritus who taught in the Department of Applied Health Science for 30 years. Although she retired from teaching in 2003, she continued to be an active researcher and has published several books and articles since her retirement. Her research is focused on exploring hypotheses concerning the determinants of behavior—including investigating the history of cycles of prohibition, eugenics, and other social/health movements with moral overtones.
Executive Director of Development Bob Nolan says, “I would like to recognize and thank Dr. Ruth Engs for her vision and generosity in establishing the Ruth Clifford Engs Endowed Lecture in Public Health. Her foresight in establishing the lecture allows us to bring a speaker of Erin Brockovich's stature to campus to talk about the link between the environment and health and highlight the important environmental health work we're doing in our school. We're grateful for Ruth's distinguished career in our school and her continuing commitment to our success."
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