Penny Black

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

 

Areas of interest within Population Health: Program evaluation, evaluation research, strategic planning, geographical information systems, international health

 

Title of Thesis/Dissertation: Evaluating the State of Evaluation

 

Brief Interest Statement: Ms. Black has over ten years of experience as a Public Health Program Evaluator, serving both domestic and international public health programs. Ms. Black received her Master of Science in Health Science from California State University, Long Beach in 2005. Upon completing her PhD in Public Health Program Evaluation, Ms. Black intends to pursue a career with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, or a similar organization.

 

What experiences in your life led you to study population/public health? I've always had an interest in the big picture and how things fit together. My interest in health research began during undergraduate study (specifically, during a required gen ed health course); my interest in population/public health developed through my work experience and complementing education.

 

Why did you choose UW-Madison for your degree? UW-Madison is one of the few schools with a population health science program. I liked the interdisciplinary nature of the faculty and staff as well as the opportunity to pursue my interest in internation (global) health.

 

What do you hope/plan to do with your degree? I would like to use my advanced degree to pursue a position with an organization that serves diverse populations; an organization such as the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or UNICEF. My PhD will allow me to obtain positions with any of these (and others) that my current degrees do not.