A transformational legacy for public health
Alum Lynn Barr pledges $90 Million to support students for long-term success
- 4 min. read ▪ Published
An extraordinary $90 million estate pledge from distinguished UC Berkeley School of Public Health alumna Lynn Barr (MPH ’11) is set to transform the school by providing scholarships to public health leaders of tomorrow.
This pledge—the largest in the school’s history— builds on Barr’s earlier $10 million gift that launched the school’s Rural Health Innovation Program, which has thus far given 100 mid-career health professionals from rural communities a full ride to advance their important work through UC Berkeley’s Online MPH program.
The Rural Health Innovation Program is producing the next generation of rural public health leaders, who will both reshape healthcare policies impacting rural communities and rework and reimagine existing healthcare systems to put these policy changes into effect.
“UC Berkeley School of Public Health arms future healthcare leaders with the education, networks and support to solve the critical problems we face today with our broken healthcare system,” said Barr. “Providing generous and accessible scholarships to rural leaders ensures these solutions will be meaningful and reasonable for the 20% of our country that live in rural America and face unique challenges in obtaining high quality care that is affordable and accessible.”
Although Barr is one of the most successful people to graduate from UC Berkeley’s public health school, she initially doubted she’d get in.
“She was nearing 50 when she applied with an undergraduate degree cobbled together from online courses taken at night while she was deployed in the U.S. Army. The admissions committee saw far more: a person who escaped hardship by joining the military at 17 and had the tenacity to succeed at developing four different businesses,” Sarah Klein wrote in an article focused on Barr and her support of the Rural Health Innovation Program.
After receiving her MPH, Barr went on to found Caravan Health—a company that helped rural and safety-net providers with few patients break into and succeed in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which rewarded them for improving quality and lowering costs. She also established the National Rural Accountable Care Consortium and now serves as a Commissioner on the nation’s Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Barr’s commitment to rural health has been the touchstone of her career. “Barr hopes to create a cadre of rural health leaders who grasp the nuances of health policy and financing and can help state and federal policymakers understand how Medicare and Medicaid policies sometimes disadvantage rural residents and exacerbate health disparities,” wrote Klein. “She also believes bringing urban and rural students together in the classroom will bridge any political or cultural divides, leading to more effective and inclusive public health policies.”
Current Rural Health Innovation student Candy Stockton exemplifies the type of student Barr’s generosity has thus far supported. Also pursuing an MPH in her 50s, Stockton is the current health officer for California’s rural Humboldt County and has supported the community there as a longtime family physician.
“I do a lot of work with our healthy communities program helping to support treatment and work within the systems across Humboldt County,” she said. “I thought that if I was really going to commit I should go back and get some training. I wanted to go after both the education and the degree that would put me in rooms with people [who are decision makers] and allow me to be taken seriously when I talk for my local community.”
Since the Rural Health Innovation program’s launch, 100 students from 30 states have enrolled, spreading the impact of Barr’s work throughout the country.
“With this extraordinary bequest, Barr is ensuring that cost will never be a barrier for future UC Berkeley Public Health students who are called to serve, to lead, and to solve some of society’s most pressing health challenges,” said Dean Michael C. Lu. “Her gift is not just an investment in students — it is an investment in the future of public health, in rural communities, and in a more just and equitable society.”
