Dr. WIlliam Haenszel

William Haenszel, professor in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division from 1976 to1995, was a world-renowned epidemiologist and biostatistician who made major contributions in epidemiologic methods and in cancer epidemiology. His famed work on cancer rates in populations who migrated to countries with different lifestyles from those of their home countries (known as migrant studies) helped to elucidate environmental and genetic contributions to cancer incidence.

Here at UIC SPH, Dr. Haenszel is considered to be a "founding father" of our school’s Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, as well as a mentor to faculty and students alike. His passing in March 1998 was deeply mourned by those who knew him and his immense legacy within the epidemiologic profession.

This legacy continues to live on through the students in our epidemiology and biostatistics programs. In 1993, Dr. Haenszel established an annual award competition to encourage high quality in research among the division’s graduate students. This award fund, which has honored worthy students every year since, subsequently became the William Haenszel Memorial Scholarship Fund. It was recently designated as an official endowment fund, with the additional goal of providing scholarship assistance to students within the division.

Individuals wishing to contribute to the endowment of this fund are asked to send a check made out to the University of Illinois Foundation with a designation for the William Haenszel Memorial Scholarship Fund to the Office of Advancement at the School of Public Health.

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