2014 Salk Symposium

On Sustainability

OCTOBER 28, 2014, 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
William Pitt Union Assembly Room, 3959 Fifth Avenue

The Jonas Salk Centenary Symposium on Sustainability: SURVIVAL OF THE WISEST at the University of Pittsburgh commemorates the 100th anniversary of Jonas Salk’s birth. While he is most well-known for the polio vaccine, Jonas Salk’s commitment to a sustainable human future was a major topic of his writings after his polio work. The program featuring speakers from multiple disciplines and perspectives, addressing sustainability with a focus on the environment, the economy, global health and the human dimension of what will be required to bring about constructive change.

Program

8:00 Registration and breakfast
8:35 Welcome by Patricia Beeson, provost, University of Pittsburgh
8:40 Welcome by Bernard Goldstein, professor emeritus, Pitt Public Health
8:45 Opening remarks by Peter Salk, president, Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation
9:00 Welcome by Patrick Gallagher, chancellor, University of Pittsburgh

THE AGE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
9:05 Introduction by Peter Salk
9:10 Keynote address: Jeffrey Sachs, director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University

HOW SUSTAINABILITY AND A BOTTOM UP APPROACH CAN CREATE A HEALTHY GREEN ECONOMY
10:20 Introduction by Clyde Jones, president, Medical and Health Sciences Foundation, University of Pittsburgh and UPMC
10:25 Session address: Van Jones, co-host, Crossfire, CNN; former green jobs advisor to the Obama White House
11:35 Break

DON’T JUST SIT THERE – DO SOMETHING! FINDING SOLUTIONS AND CREATING ENERGY SMART COMMUNITIES
11:55 Introduction by Karen Feinstein, president and CEO, Jewish Healthcare. Foundation
12:00 LUNCHEON and Session address: Joylette Portlock, president, Communitopia; board member, Allegheny County Board of Health
1:05 Break

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES IN SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
1:20 Introduction by Eva Blum, executive VP and director, Community Affairs, PNC 
1:25 Discussion panel moderated by Bernard Goldstein. Panelists: Jane Madden, partner, Mission Measurement; Neil C. Hawkins, chief sustainability officer, The Dow Chemical Company; Allison Robinson, director of environmental initiatives, UPMC; Benson Gabler, vice president, manager of corporate sustainability, PNC Financial Services Group

ACTING AS IF TOMORROW MATTERS: ACCELERATING THE TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABILITY
2:35 Introduction by Bernard Goldstein
2:40 Session address: John Dernbach, professor, Widener Law School; former director, Advanced Science and Research Team, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources

A PATH APPEARS: TRANSFORMING LIVES, CREATING OPPORTUNITY
3:45 Introduction by Peter Salk
3:50 Session address: Nicholas Kristof, New York Times journalist
4:55 Closing remarks by Bernard Goldstein and Peter Salk
5:10 Reception with book signing by Nicholas Kristof

PARKING

Click for information on visitor parking.

SPONSORS

      

About the Jonas Salk Symposia Series at Pitt Public Health

While most known for polio vaccine development, Jonas Salk's broader commitments to a sustainable human future were major topics of his later writings on the environment, the economy, global health, the meaning of health, and the human dimension of creating constructive change. The Jonas Salk Symposia, hosted by Pitt Public Health, honor him by bringing together speakers from diverse disciplines to discuss the continuing importance of one such theme each year. Recent, upcoming, and proposed symposia topics include:

Recent Jonas Salk Symposia topics

The development of the first polio vaccine is credited to Dr. Jonas Salk and his team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to his pioneering research with vaccines, Salk also studied and wrote about humanity’s role in the evolutionary scheme.

Salk Legacy Stories

image

Peter Salk says newest U.S. case of polio sounds a warning 

Peter Salk says newest U.S. case of polio sounds a warning

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - After a man in Rockland County, New York, became the first patient to contract polio in the U.S. in nearly a decade, experts such as IDM’s Peter Salk — whose late father, Jonas, developed a vaccine for the disease — said the public shouldn’t be alarmed but warned that chil... (07/26/2022)
image

During WWII, Getting the Flu Vaccine was Patriotic 

During WWII, Getting the Flu Vaccine was Patriotic

US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT – IDM’s Peter Salk struggles to make sense of COVID denialism. “It’s not mind-blowing — it’s mind-bending and heartbreaking to see this,” he says. “How many people are dying, and how many are suffering loss in their families, because of not being tuned in to the reality of ... (10/28/2021)
image

Dean Lichtveld exemplifies the power of prevention 

Dean Lichtveld exemplifies the power of prevention

After receiving her COVID-19 vaccine at an interprofessional clinic on campus, Dean Maureen Lichtveld celebrated by posing with a life-sized picture of Jonas Salk – a symbol of the importance of vaccines and one of the core principles of public health: prevention. Lichtveld shares her experience in... (04/13/2021)
image

ON THIS DAY: February 23, 1954, Dr. Jonas Salk begins first mass polio vaccination in Pittsburgh 

ON THIS DAY: February 23, 1954, Dr. Jonas Salk begins first mass polio vaccination in Pittsburgh

WPXI NEWS  — A group of children rolled up their sleeves for their place in history on Feb. 23, 1954, at a mass inoculation held at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh. The new polio vaccine they received was developed by Dr. Jonas Salk at the Virus Research Lab at the University of Pittsbu... (02/23/2021)
image

Amanpour & Salk: Vaccine lessons from history (video) 

Amanpour & Salk: Vaccine lessons from history (video)

CNN — Christiane Amanpour discusses with IDM's Peter Salk the 97% drop in polio prevalence within a few years of initial vaccine adoption. In 1953, Dr. Peter Salk was one of the first to receive a polio vaccine—from none other than his father, Jonas Salk. They go on to discuss herd immunity and vac... (01/13/2021)
image

Paralyzed 

Paralyzed

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - In a 3500-word and photo retrospective, journalist Laura Malt Schneiderman looks back at the last massive vaccine rollout—for polio—which started in Pittsburgh. (01/12/2021)


More on Salk Legacy