In Memoriam

This page is dedicated to remembering our faculty colleagues who have passed away. Obituaries are attached as available.

Teh-wei Hu

Professor Emeritus

Teh-wei Hu, PhD, was a professor emeritus of Health Economics at the Berkeley School of Public Health, and director of the Public Health Institute’s Center for International Tobacco Control. Hu’s areas of expertise were the application of econometrics to health care services research, mental health economics and the economics of tobacco control. Hu received the Carl Taube Award from the American Public Health Association for his contribution to mental health services research. In 2014 the WHO awarded him a medal to honor his contribution to tobacco tax policy research in China.

Joyce C. Lashof

Dean (1982–1992)

Joyce Cohen Lashof, MD, a passionate health equity advocate who broke gender barriers as the first woman to be appointed director of any state department of public health and the first woman appointed dean of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. After leaving Berkeley, Lashof went on to chair the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses and the Institute of Medicine Committee on Technologies for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer. In 1995, she received the Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health from the American Public Health Association.

Cheri A. Pies

Clinical Professor Emerita

Cheri A. Pies was a Clinical Professor Emerita at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Cheri Pies also served as the principal investigator of the Best Babies Zone Initiative, a place-based multi-sector approach to reducing infant mortality through community-driven transformation. As one of the pioneers in understanding social determinants of health, she worked to address the ways in which social and economic disparities and inequities influence birth outcomes and generational health across the life course.

David R. Ragland

Founding Director, Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC)

David R. Ragland, PhD, MPH ’80 was Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. From 1980 to 2000, David conducted a number of studies in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and occupational safety, and coordinated an NIH-sponsored training program that supported over this period about 100 pre- and post-doctoral students in the School of Public Health. In 2000, he founded the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center, now called the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC), which conducts research on transportation practices, evaluates new technologies for road safety, and conducts policy analyses. SafeTREC is jointly affiliated with the School of Public Health and the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS). Ragland advised state and federal transportation agencies on issues of transportation safety, including collision analysis, data collection, and safety for vulnerable populations such as pedestrians and bicyclists. A later focus of Ragland’s research was safety and mobility in the rapidly expanding elderly population.

Lee W. Riley

Professor (1996–2022)

Dr. Riley was Professor and Chair of the Division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology. He was a physician, who conducted molecular epidemiology and bacterial pathogenesis research focused on infectious diseases of global importance and diseases of urban slum settlements in developing countries.

Kirk R. Smith

Professor (1995–2020)

Kirk R. Smith was a Professor of Global Environmental Health and Director of the Collaborative Clean Air Policy Centre, New Delhi. Previously, he was founder and head of the Energy Program of the East-West Center in Honolulu. He served on a number of national and international scientific advisory committees including the Global Energy Assessment, National Research Council’s Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate, the Executive Committee for WHO Air Quality Guidelines, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, and the International Comparative Risk Assessment of the Global Burden of Disease Project. He conducted field research on air pollution, both ambient and in households, in more than 20 countries of Asia and Latin America. He published about 400 articles in peer-reviewed journals and books on air pollution, climate change, energy, and development.

Harry Snyder

Harry Snyder was the advocacy leader in residence at the Center for Public Health Practice & Leadership, and a lecturer for the Division of Health Policy and Management, at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. He taught two courses, PH 220 Health Policy Advocacy and PH 298.015, a group study/action learning class placing students with organizations advocating for better public health issues. He also administered the distribution of funds from class-action lawsuits and has been responsible for the making and accountability of $70 million of grants from health-related state and multi-state cases.