In the last year, we lost two dedicated public health advocates and great and loyal friends of the CDC Foundation – Margaret Mahoney and Bob Keegan. Each helped shape the CDC Foundation and our impact on health in meaningful and important ways. We are grateful for their significant contributions. They are missed.
Margaret Mahoney
Margaret Mahoney, a leader in American philanthropy, passed away on December 22, 2011. Margaret was a founding member and the second chair of the CDC Foundation board of directors. Widely respected in philanthropic circles as the “Grande Dame” of philanthropy, she devoted her career to working with philanthropies focused on health, education, arts and the humanities. She worked in key roles at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Commonwealth Fund. To honor her ongoing leadership and support, in 1998 the CDC Foundation board of directors created The Margaret Ellerbe Mahoney Society to recognize leadership donors.
Bob Keegan
Bob Keegan, former deputy director of CDC’s Global Immunization Division, passed away on January 16, 2012. Bob was a dedicated public servant and an ardent champion for global polio eradication. He helped the Foundation establish the Endowment for Global Health Priorities to support CDC’s work in polio and global health. And when Bob was honored with CDC’s distinguished William C. Watson Jr. Medal of Excellence, he donated his award money to establish the Polio Eradication Heroes Fund. The fund honors those seriously injured or killed while working on polio eradication with recognition and a cash award for their families. To express our gratitude for Bob’s extraordinary leadership and dedication, the Foundation renamed this fund in his honor: the Bob Keegan Polio Eradication Heroes Fund.