The University of Houston College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is pleased to announce that Pulitzer Prize-winning author, historian, and public health expert David M. Oshinsky, Ph.D., will deliver the 2019 John P. McGovern Award Lecture in Family, Health and Human Values. Oshinsky is the director of the Division of Medical Humanities at NYU Langone Health and a professor in NYU’s Department of History. In a lecture titled “The Frayed Safety Net: The Future of America’s Public Hospitals,” Oshinsky will outline a path toward a brighter future for the rapidly disappearing medical institutions that serve the nation’s poor and underserved communities. The lecture will take place Thursday, November 7 at 6:30 PM at the University Center South Theater. 

Oshinsky has authored 10 books throughout his 40-year writing career, including Polio: An American Story, which received the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in History. Bill Gates noted that Oshinsky’s book “influenced the decision that Melinda and I made to make polio eradication the top priority of the [Gates] Foundation, as well as my own personal priority.” In addition to his writing in the field of public health, he has also published works on McCarthyism, Jim Crow laws, and capital punishment. Oshinsky’s articles and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“David Oshinsky is an unwavering advocate for equal access to health care irrespective of geographic location or economic means,” said Antonio D. Tillis, dean of CLASS. “His insights will inform and inspire interdisciplinary scholarship as our University works toward a more just society for all.”

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