On Oct. 5 at the School of Public Health, Nafis Sadik, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund and U.N. undersecretary general, gave the Dean's Lecture, titled "Reproductive Health and Family Planning in the Age of HIV/AIDS: The Future of UNFPA," which launched the Nafis Sadik Leadership Fellows Program. Phyllis Piotrow, professor and director of SPH's Center for Communication Programs, raised funds from 10 foundations for this fellowship program in Sadik's honor.

Addressing a standing-room-only crowd in the Becton Dickinson Lecture Hall, Sadik said, "These fellowships show how far we have come in recognizing population and especially reproductive health, including family planning, as a public health concern, and the vital importance of the reproductive health of young people."

The first five fellowships, for the 2000-2001 academic year, were awarded to Arzum Ciloglu, a Dr.P.H. candidate from Turkey; Samuel Mills, an M.H.S. candidate from Ghana; Haijang Wang, a Ph.D. candidate from the People's Republic of China; Irina Zablotska, a Ph.D. candidate from the Ukraine; and Mona Sharan, a Ph.D. candidate from India.