Michael A. Koenig, a professor in the
Department of Population, Family and Reproductive
Health, died Jan. 26 following a battle with cancer.
He was 56 years old.
Throughout his career, Koenig studied ways to reduce
deaths and illness among women living in
developing countries, such as India and Bangladesh. Much of
his research focused on understanding
the factors contributing to high numbers of maternal deaths
during pregnancy and delivery in
resource-poor settings. Koenig also studied the mental,
physical and family-planning consequences of
domestic partner violence against women in developing
countries, and collaborated on studies of HIV-
prevention programs for high school students in South
Africa through the use of mobile health
education clinics.
"Mike was one of those very unique individuals who
could be equally successful working in a
university or with a community agency. Perhaps more than
any other single individual, he has made
partner violence and sexual abuse an international issue,"
said Robert Wm. Blum, the William H. Gates
Sr. Chair of the Bloomberg School's Department of
Population, Family and Reproductive Health.
Koenig came to the School of Public Health in 1981 as
a postdoctoral fellow after earning his
bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the University of
Michigan. From 1983 to 1985, he worked as a
research associate with the school's Department of
Population Dynamics, which is now part of the
Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health.
Koenig's research took him to Bangladesh, where he
spent several years managing research and
family-planning projects for the International Centre for
Diarrhoeal Disease Research and the
Population Council. In 1992, Koenig became a program
officer with the Ford Foundation and spent the
next seven years developing the foundation's reproductive
health programs in India and Nepal. He
returned to Johns Hopkins in 1998 and served as associate
professor, and later professor, in the
Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health.
In addition to his research, Koenig
instructed students and worked on training and
capacity-building programs for the Bill and Melinda
Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health.
Koenig authored three books, 14 chapters and more than
50 research articles in peer-reviewed
journals covering international reproductive health, family
planning, maternal health services, and
maternal mortality and morbidity. He was a member of the
Population Association of America, the
International Union for the Scientific Study of Population
and the American Public Health Association.
Koenig is survived by his wife, Gillian; a son,
Matthew; a daughter, Leah; his parents, Harry and
Debbie Koenig; a brother, Steven Koenig; a sister, Karen
Zwecker; and nieces and nephews.
The Bloomberg School of Public Health is planning a
memorial service for Koenig, at a date to be
determined.
Contributions can be made to the Michael Koenig
Memorial Grant Program, attention Ricky Fine,
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N.
Wolfe St./W1600, Baltimore, MD 21205.
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