The Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame has established a lecture in honor of Paul P. Weinstein (1920 Ð 2008). Weinstein, a leading authority on parasitology, vector biology and public health, joined the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame in 1969 as a professor and department chair. For over 21 years, he was an exceptional researcher, teacher and mentor. Reflecting his passion for research, he continued working and publishing after his retirement from teaching in 1990, until his death in 2008. Throughout his career he pursued research to understand and combat parasites responsible for problems such as blindness and elephantiasis. He published more than 90 scientific papers during his career.
Weinstein earned his bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College in 1941. He then entered the U.S. Public Health Service as a junior parasitologist. His early work in government service in Florida and Puerto Rico culminated in 1946 when, as a captain stationed in Atlanta, Georgia, he played a significant role in the establishment of the Communicable Disease Center, which eventually became the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After earning his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in 1949, he furthered his research career primarily at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. His work in public health expanded to the international level, serving his profession and the sick and suffering in places such as Japan, Nigeria and Panama.
The Eck Institute for Global Health will dedicate an annual lecture to the excellence that Paul Weinstein brought to a life dedicated to advancing research on infectious diseases and training multiple generations of scientists. This lecture will be given each year by scholars or policy makers who have contributed significantly to global health.