Posted on June 22, 2001 at 9:00 a.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) School of Public Health has established an endowed student scholars program in honor of U.S. Rep. Sonny Callahan of Mobile. The program will provide a continuing source of funding for public health scholarships at UAB. More than $175,000 in pledges and contributions have been made to the program.
Dr. Eli Capilouto, dean of the School of Public Health at UAB, announced the new program at the school’s annual awards luncheon held recently in Birmingham. “This lasting tribute honors the work Congressman Callahan has done on behalf of Alabama, the United States and the world community,” Capilouto says.
Among his contributions to improving the health of millions of people around the globe, Callahan was instrumental in the establishment of the Child Survival and Disease Program Fund. The fund supports public health programs abroad, including child survival, maternal health, health system, polio eradication and infectious disease prevention programs. “Children and adults from the Black Belt to Bangladesh enjoy cleaner water, safer food and a lower incidence of disease because of his labors,” Capilouto says.
Closer to home, Callahan has effectively worked to ensure safe water supplies to Alabama communities. “One town, in particular, would lose its water supply for 18 to 24 hours at a time,” Capilouto notes. “In this area, also marked by the state’s highest rate of unemployment, Callahan fought to ensure sufficient water systems to support new industry for the people who live there.”
“The interest from the scholarship fund will attract the best and brightest students to UAB to study how to prevent disease and disability, improve quality of life and reduce health care costs,” Capilouto says. “It is a fitting tribute to Congressman Callahan, who has done so much to help so many the world over.”
Callahan, first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1984, represents Alabama’s First District, which encompasses six counties -- Baldwin, Clarke, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and Washington. As a member of Congress, he chairs the Energy and Water Development and the Foreign Operations committees and is a member of the Appropriations and Transportation committees.