Education

New SPH Scholarship Fund Celebrates Joel Lamstein’s Legacy at JSI

The co-founder and president of John Snow, Inc. retired in December 2021, after 43 years leading the internationally renowned public health research and consulting firm. His children have established a new scholarship fund to support SPH students interested in global health.

After attending the Sloan School at MIT, Joel Lamstein envisioned a long career in management, but he never anticipated working in public health.

Now, nearly five decades later, Lamstein is celebrating his recent retirement, after serving more than 43 years as the co-founder and president of John Snow, Inc., the leading public health research and consulting firm with a steadfast mission to improve healthcare access, quality, and equity across the globe.

In 1978, Lamstein co-founded JSI (named after the English physician and (father of epidemiology) with Norbert Hirschhorn, a public health physician who, along with others, is credited with saving more than 50 million lives through his invention of oral rehydration therapy (a treatment that restores fluid loss caused by cholera and other diarrheal infections). The idea for JSI was borne after Lamstein and Hirschhorn observed a dearth in management and organizational leadership in public health, nonprofit, and community organizations. What began as a 12-person team in Boston has now expanded to more than 4,000 employees conducting health systems research, strategic planning, program evaluation, and technical assistance in the US and more than 100 other countries in total over the years, including several African countries, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and more.

“It was clear that universities were conducting good research, and there were good policies in place, but a lack of critical operational elements were stopping really good ideas from actually being implemented in the US and overseas,” says Lamstein, who in 1973 co-founded Management Sciences for Public Health, a global health nonprofit that works with public and private partners to improve healthcare systems and access to care. “We knew that an organization focused on implementation would be valuable, with people who could do the research and create the policies, but who were also activists and wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.”

JSI’s current portfolio of projects focuses on HIV, reproductive and child health, nutrition, COVID-19, and more. No matter the country, community, or project, the organization’s programs are run by local people, and JSI employees assist with management and operational support.

“Local people know their culture better and are more familiar with the problems on the ground,” Lamstein says. “They may not have all the resources, or may need technical assistance, but they are much better at running the projects embedded in the community, so it is important to us to make sure that they are in control.”

Lamstein has long supported and served in numerous capacities at the School of Public Health over the years, including roles as past chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board from 2016-2018 and as an adjunct associate professor of global health. He’s interacted with dozens of students who have completed their practicum or internship, or been hired full-time, at JSI and in 2012, he established the Lamstein Family/John Snow, Inc. Scholarship Fund, a need and merit-based annual scholarship that support students’ achievement and potential to contribute to international health.

In honor of Lamstein’s retirement, Lamstein’s son and two daughters—Josh Lamstein, Emily Posthumus, and Abby Frantz—have established the Joel H. Lamstein Endowed Scholarship Fund at SPH, a permanently endowed fund that will provide annual need-based awards to SPH students who are studying or have an interest in global health, as well as a preference for living or working in a low-income country.

“Public health is a vitally important field of study that, historically, has been chronically underfunded,” says Josh. “The purpose of this scholarship is, in a small way, to ensure that the students who want to become practitioners are not precluded from doing so due to their economic circumstances. My father highly respects the school and feels it prepares students well for careers in the public health field. It is an honor to help BU fulfill its mission to its students and the field of public health.”

SPH students excel at practice-based work in the field and “really have a sense of the whole,” Joel Lamstein says. “They are proud to be at BU and they’re very loyal to the school. I’m glad that this scholarship will support good public health work and help students who need it the most.”

Reflecting on the work and growth of JSI over the past 40 years, Lamstein says he is proudest of developing a collegial, open-door work culture with minimal hierarchy, and building a staff of energized people who are passionate about what they do and who strive to make a difference in people’s lives every day.

“We hire people of high character, with good values—they’re lovely people to interact with, and that is what I will miss the most,” says Lamstein, who maintained a “management by wandering around” leadership style to get to know employees’ professional and personal interests and goals. “People work very hard—not because we demand it, but because that is their passion. We’re doing work in Ethiopia, where there is a civil war; and in Mali, where there are Islamic terrorists; and in Nepal, where there is a Maoist revolution. The work is very difficult and many times you fail, so it’s important to maintain a sense of humility and humor to get through the day.”

In addition to leading JSI, Lamstein also served as president of two of its subsidiaries, the nonprofit JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. and World Education, Inc. He’s looking forward to continuing to serve on several advisory boards and as an adjunct lecturer at universities, currently at Tulane University. He’s confident that JSI, now under the leadership of president and CEO Margaret Crotty, will continue to fulfill its mission to strengthen global health systems, from US communities to the most remote villages abroad, at a time when public health work is most needed around the world.

“Now that public health is front and center, and people actually understand what it is, my hope is that it will continue to be sufficiently funded, and that people will not forget about our work after COVID passes,” Lamstein says.

“My dad is my hero,” says Josh. “He hit the ‘trifecta’: He has created a very successful business that will succeed for years to come; the ‘product’ JSI focuses on is assisting under-served communities around the world with their health outcomes; and he has created the culture at JSI that attracts and retains the best and brightest in the field.”

Ways to support the Joel H. Lamstein Endowed Scholarship Fund:

• To give online, please visit: www.bu.edu/sph/give.
• Select “Support SPH” then “Choose a Fund” then “Other” and designate your gift to: Joel H. Lamstein Endowed Scholarship Fund.
• To pay by mail: Make your check payable to Trustees of Boston UniversityOn the check’s memo line or in an attached note, specify how you would like to designate your gift: Joel H. Lamstein Endowed Scholarship Fund. If you do not include a designation, your gift will be used for the general teaching, research, and public service initiatives of Boston University.
• Mail your gift to: Boston University, Gift Processing, c/o JPMorgan Chase & Co., PO Box 22605, New York, NY 10087-2605.
• For questions, please contact Jacoba van Heugten, dean of development, at jjvh@bu.edu.