Two DGHI associate professors with extensive classroom and mentoring experience have been named to lead the institute’s undergraduate and graduate education programs.
Aunchalee Palmquist, Ph.D., will serve as director of graduate studies (DGS), which oversees DGHI’s Master of Science in Global Health program, effective July 1, 2024. On that same date, Eric Green, Ph.D., will become director of undergraduate studies (DUS), which includes oversight of the global health co-major and minor.
Aunchalee Palmquist
Palmquist, an associate professor of the practice of global health, joined DGHI in 2023 after serving on the faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. At UNC, she sat on more than 25 committees for master’s and Ph.D. students. She won four teaching and research awards, including the Faculty Excellence in Health Equity Research in 2021.
“Aunchalee brings to her new role a passion for innovative teaching and education growth,” says Mary Story, Ph.D., DGHI’s director of academic programs. “She brings a wealth of experience in graduate education and mentoring of students.”
Palmquist will succeed Joe Egger, Ph.D., an associate professor of global health who held the role for two years. Egger was previously named director of academic programs following Story’s retirement from the role she has held since 2014.
“Aunchalee comes to the position with a wealth of experience in and outside of the classroom,” Egger says. “I know she will be an outstanding and passionate advocate for all our students.”
Palmquist, who has a secondary appointment in cultural anthropology, is a health equity scholar who conducts ethnographic research on breastfeeding and lactation. She says that as a student, she often had a difficult time connecting with professors and mentors, and she wants global health students to have a more positive experience.
“I hope in my role as DGS, my leadership will reflect the core values of our institute,” says Palmquist. She says she will strive to “inspire students to work toward advancing global health equity, social justice, and protecting health and healthcare as a human right.”
Eric Green
Green, an associate pfofessor of the practice of global health, joined the institute in 2012 and has focused his teaching on how technology can improve health and health systems in low-income settings. He’s led teams for the institute’s Student Research Training Program and Duke’s Bass Connections program, which focuses on team-based interdisciplinary problem-solving.
Green will succeed Dennis Clements, M.D., who has served in the role for the past six years.
“Dennis has been a wonderful DUS, deeply involved in all aspects of the undergraduate major and minor and inspiring students and their learning and development in global health,” Story says. “Eric will continue this legacy. He has been actively engaged with teaching and mentoring undergraduate global health majors and serving on several DGHI education committees.”
Green says his years as an undergraduate student were formative to his academic growth.
“The professors I had shaped who I am today as an academic,” he says. “I try to live up to their standards in my work with Duke undergrads. Serving as director will be a special opportunity to help guide how we train and serve our global health students.”
