Richard Skolnik Named Director of International Programs (September 2006)
(Sept. 29, 2006) Richard Skolnik, executive director of "The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" (PEPFAR) Program at the Harvard School of Public Health, has been named director of International Programs at the Population Reference Bureau, beginning Oct. 23, 2006.
"Richard brings a strong and impressive set of skills and experiences to PRB, including his 25 years with the World Bank, his work at George Washington University as a professor and director of the Center for Global Health, and his most recent involvement in AIDS treatment efforts in Africa," says William Butz, PRB's president. "His leadership and extensive involvement in translating policy into action will help PRB broaden our reach and impact around the world."
Skolnik has a master's of public administration from the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University and a bachelor's in history from Yale University. In his last assignment at the World Bank, he managed the health work on South Asia and previously managed the health and education portfolios for India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Throughout his career at the World Bank, Richard's work focused on family planning, infectious diseases, the educational needs of poor children—particularly girl children—and the nutritional and health conditions that most affect the poor.
He has worked extensively in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, and Africa. He has written The Essentials of Global Health, a textbook aimed at undergraduate students, which will be published by Jones and Bartlett in 2007.
"PRB is an exceptional organization with a long history of intellectual leadership and contributions in a number of critical areas," says Skolnik. "I am very much looking forward to contributing further to the mission of PRB, in close collaboration with the outstanding PRB management and staff."
The International Programs Department at PRB has 21 staff and its programs and publications reach policymakers, educators, and journalists. PRB's core themes are reflected in the work of these dedicated and skilled professionals: fertility and reproductive health, global health, population and environment, gender, aging, immigration and urbanization, poverty and inequality, and children and families. Notable among the dozens of activities that keep the staff traveling and working around the world, are conducting regional policy communications workshops for researchers, technical experts, and advocates; and building cross-sectoral population, health, and environment programs in coastal communities in the Philippines.