The Reporter: February 1997, Vol.8, No.1
Columbia's Profiles in Giving
Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn

Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn with daughters Helaine Lerner and Joan Rechnitz

Two dedicated supporters of programs at Columbia's School of Public Health are Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn, who consider teen pregnancy and the general field of population and family health to be among the most important issues of our time. They have generously supported the Family Planning and Reproductive Health Center, operated through the School of Public Health's Division of Population & Family Health. They provided much-needed funds to refurbish the center, which reopened in 1994 at 166th Street and Audubon Avenue. The center is one of the best of its kind, providing spacious accommodations and quality care for patients and an ideal setting for research and evaluation studies aimed at refining and improving patient intervention. Before the new center opened, research opportunities were limited by space considerations.

The center enhances Columbia's role as the only school of public health in the New York metropolitan area. The school's program in family planning and reproductive health, through the work of the center, combines theory and practice in a three-part program of service, training, and research along with policy analysis. The work of the center and the school-based clinics run by the School of Public Health has contributed to a dramatic decrease in the pregnancy rate. Professionals from across the country study Columbia's program and seek to emulate this model. Recently, the center was singled out for high commendation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations.

The Heilbrunns have created an endowment to establish the Harriet and Robert H. Heilbrunn Professorship in the Division of Population & Family Health. This professorship, along with the center, will complete the circle from service to education. Together, the professorship and the Family Planning Center combine service with education--the very essence of the School of Public Health's mission.