Duff Gillespie Joins Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health

Duff Gillespie, PhD, a distinguished leader in population and reproductive health issues, joined The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on February 2, 2004. He will serve as a senior scholar with the Gates Institute and as a public health professor with the School’s Department of Population and Family Health Sciences.

Dr. Gillespie was the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Global Health Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) until he retired from government service in December 2002. While there, he played a leading role overseeing a global program in population, health, and nutrition with a total budget of $1.7 billion, working in 56 countries. Dr. Gillespie spent this past year as a visiting scholar with the Packard Foundation in California. He has been a member of numerous U.S. delegations to global conferences and received the USAID Administrator's Distinguished Career Service Award in 2003, a Lifetime Recognition Award from the Global Health Council in 2003 and the Presidential Rank Award in 2001 for his sustained superior accomplishments in program management and quality public service. He received his master’s degree and doctorate degree in sociology from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.

Dr. Gillespie recently published the article “Knowledge into Action for Child Survival” in the The Lancet, along with Johns Hopkins colleagues. His essay, “Making Abortion Rare and Safe,” appeared in the January 2004 Lancet series on reproductive health. Prior to and during his civil service career, Dr. Gillespie regularly published articles on contraception and family planning programs, survey measurements, and drug abuse.

Dr. Gillespie joins the Gates Institute to continue efforts he began at the Packard Foundation to increase the priority of and commitment to reproductive health, child survival, HIV/AIDS, maternal health and nutrition through evidence-based discourse among globally engaged policymakers. He recently developed an initiative with the World Health Organization, USAID, and the Packard, Hewlett and Gates foundations to incorporate family planning into Prevention-of-Mother-to-Child Transmission programs, authoring or co-authoring papers and making numerous presentations on the topic.

“The Gates Institute is enthusiastic to have such a distinguished leader in population and reproductive health issues join its ranks. I know he will be an important faculty resource to the School,” said Amy Tsui, PhD, director of The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and professor of Population and Family Health Sciences.