General Mills CEO Sanger speaks at UM on child health
Li Sun
Issue date: 10/9/06 Section: News
Business students got a taste of how they can influence larger social problems on October 5 when General Mills CEO Steven Sanger visited the University of Michigan to deliver the Inaugural Susan B. Meister Lecture in Child Health Policy. Approximately 150 students and faculty members from 14 different schools reserved seating for the event. The Ross School of Business's own Dean Robert Dolan, along with six other deans from other colleges and professional schools also attended the event.
The Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit (CHEAR) sponsored the lecture. The unit is a national leader in American health care system research and the organization and financing of care for children. With over 25 million dollars in grant money, the CHEAR Unit is comprised of multi-disciplinary core faculty from the business, dentistry, law, medical, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and social work schools.
The Susan B. Meister lecture was endowed by its namesake and is dedicated to promoting awareness for the rising trend of child obesity and malnutrition, a pressing issue facing society that cuts across many disciplines. In the spirit the multi-faceted nature of this problem, a wide variety of students and faculty members attended the event. Students in medical uniform as well as formal suits scattered the auditorium. "The intention of the lecture was to bring together a wide range of faculty and students from around the University to focus on an issue related to child health policy," said Dr. Gary Freedman, director of the CHEAR Unit.
At the end of the lecture, Dr. Freedman also mentioned, "We are hoping that such opportunities for interaction will result in both a greater awareness of issues facing children and the increased potential for multi-disciplinary collaborative research at the University of Michigan focused on child health policy issues."
As the sixth largest food company in the world and named one of the best corporations to work at by Fortune magazine, General Mills provides 27 million Americans each day with whole-grain cereal. Of those, 12 million are children. As Mr. Sanger thoroughly addressed his company's strategy to promote a healthier younger generation in America, he repeatedly stressed on his company's mission: "to nourish life."
Dean Dolan, who successfully invited Mr. Sanger as the key guest lecturer, commented by saying, "[the event] is a good opportunity for students to find interesting problems in our world. By discovering these societal problems, students reinforce their education." He also went on to say "while students may have good intentions to solve challenging problems, they must first grasp the essential concepts taught in academia."
Even though Ross students place strong emphasis on the academic rigors of their specialized curriculum, the lecture presented an opportunity to raise awareness about the multi-disciplinary problems society faces. As Sanger's lecture exemplified, finding solutions to issues such as childhood obesity will require a great amount of effort from not only the healthcare community, but the business community as well.
The Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit (CHEAR) sponsored the lecture. The unit is a national leader in American health care system research and the organization and financing of care for children. With over 25 million dollars in grant money, the CHEAR Unit is comprised of multi-disciplinary core faculty from the business, dentistry, law, medical, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and social work schools.
The Susan B. Meister lecture was endowed by its namesake and is dedicated to promoting awareness for the rising trend of child obesity and malnutrition, a pressing issue facing society that cuts across many disciplines. In the spirit the multi-faceted nature of this problem, a wide variety of students and faculty members attended the event. Students in medical uniform as well as formal suits scattered the auditorium. "The intention of the lecture was to bring together a wide range of faculty and students from around the University to focus on an issue related to child health policy," said Dr. Gary Freedman, director of the CHEAR Unit.
At the end of the lecture, Dr. Freedman also mentioned, "We are hoping that such opportunities for interaction will result in both a greater awareness of issues facing children and the increased potential for multi-disciplinary collaborative research at the University of Michigan focused on child health policy issues."
As the sixth largest food company in the world and named one of the best corporations to work at by Fortune magazine, General Mills provides 27 million Americans each day with whole-grain cereal. Of those, 12 million are children. As Mr. Sanger thoroughly addressed his company's strategy to promote a healthier younger generation in America, he repeatedly stressed on his company's mission: "to nourish life."
Dean Dolan, who successfully invited Mr. Sanger as the key guest lecturer, commented by saying, "[the event] is a good opportunity for students to find interesting problems in our world. By discovering these societal problems, students reinforce their education." He also went on to say "while students may have good intentions to solve challenging problems, they must first grasp the essential concepts taught in academia."
Even though Ross students place strong emphasis on the academic rigors of their specialized curriculum, the lecture presented an opportunity to raise awareness about the multi-disciplinary problems society faces. As Sanger's lecture exemplified, finding solutions to issues such as childhood obesity will require a great amount of effort from not only the healthcare community, but the business community as well.
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