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University of Oklahoma unveils name Hudson College of Public Health to honor donors

Daily Oklahoman - 9/19/2018

Sept. 19--email

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The College of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma now bears the name of Leslie and Cliff Hudson in recognition of $5 million the Oklahoma City couple have donated to support the training and research of doctoral students.

OU President Jim Gallogly made the announcement Tuesday on the OU Health Sciences Center campus, saying the naming honors the Hudsons' "leadership and generosity."

"With this gift, they're investing in the training and support of the public health scientists and professionals of tomorrow," said Gallogly, who has stressed the need to pay graduate students a stipend that will keep them at the university.

The gift supports his goal to double research at OU.

"We feel like we are investing in our very greatest resource, human intellectual capital," said Leslie Hudson, a former faculty member of what is now the Hudson College of Public Health.

"Our gift will increase the college's ability to attract and financially support the brightest students through training at the highest level in their public health disciplines," Hudson said. "We really feel like important work is happening here, and we're very glad to be a part of it."

She earned a bachelor's degree in physical therapy, a master's in public health and a doctorate in epidemiology all from OU.

Cliff Hudson, also an OU graduate, said he and his wife look forward to seeing the consequences their gift will have on the lives of students and the health of the community.

The couple established the Hudson Family Endowed Scholarship in 2013 to benefit students in the department of biostatistics and epidemiology preparing for careers in community-based health. Two years later, they announced a $1 million gift to establish the Hudson Fellows in Public Health program and the annual Hudson Fellows Symposium. An additional $1 million gift made in 2017 increased the number of available fellowships.

Tuesday's gift brings the cumulative amount to $5 million.

Gary Raskob, dean of the college, said all of the money is being used to support the stipend for doctoral students training in public health science. It goes into an endowment to generate annual revenue to support students.

"We can support now up to eight students with full-time fellowship stipends of about $26,000 a year for four years for their doctoral training," Raskob said.

"This is so important to students to offset the cost of education. Many of them are already are coming with debt from their undergraduate and their master's degree," he said.

The stipends allow students to focus full time on their studies without incurring more debt, he said.

"This will be really important in keeping higher education at the highest level of scientific training affordable for Oklahomans and also attract other American students here to enhance the diversity of our group," Raskob said.

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