New Scholarship Strengthens Ties with Georgia Tech

William (Bill) J. Todd, professor of the practice at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, is determined to provide Tech alums with the opportunity to also become Rollins alums.

To this end, Todd recently provided a generous gift to establish The Todd Family Scholarship Fund, the first fund created to provide scholarship support for Georgia Tech graduates admitted to Rollins.

“I think Georgia Tech students—whether they’re in biology, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, or even business—have the qualifications, the motivation to serve, and the passion for the mission of public health,” says Todd. “The schools of public health want them, and Rollins wants them in a big way because it has such a strong relationship with Georgia Tech. The barrier, however, seems to be financial aid. So, I’m trying to address that.”

Todd has long been invested in Rollins. He has served on the Rollins Dean’s Council since 2002 and was involved in elevating the Master of Public Health program to school status at Emory in 1990.

Todd’s 40-year career focused on health care and technology management in Atlanta, commencing at Emory, where he spent 20 years at Emory University hospitals, clinics, and the medical school, holding a variety of administrative posts, and ultimately serving as assistant vice president for medical administration at the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center. He later became president and CEO of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. During his tenure, more than $300 million was invested to support research and prevention efforts to reduce cancer deaths statewide.

As a first-generation college student at Georgia Tech and a child of the ‘60s who wanted to “change the world,” Todd attributes his interest in public health and his desire to use his management skills in a nontraditional industry such as health care to his job as a ward clerk at Crawford Long Hospital while still in school.

“I got to see how things operated. Sometimes they went very well and sometimes they went poorly because of a lack of systems management. That’s what Georgia Tech people do; we think in terms of systems,” says Todd.

In 2011, he returned to Georgia Tech where every semester he teaches the Management in the Healthcare Sector seminar. James W. Curran, MD, MPH, dean emeritus of Rollins, is a popular guest lecturer in his class.

“It’s a great treat for the students,” states Todd. “Dr. Curran introduces so many students to public health who are then inspired to attend Rollins,” states Todd.

The Todd Family Scholarship Fund will help Georgia Tech students achieve this goal.