Ron Pollack of Families USA to Deliver Pitt's Rubash Lecture In Law and Social Work Oct. 19

PITTSBURGH-Ron Pollack, founding executive director of Families USA, will deliver the annual Norman J. and Alice Chapman Rubash Distinguished Lecture in Law and Social Work at noon Oct. 19 in the Barco Law Building's Teplitz Memorial Courtroom, 3900 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Pollack's talk is titled " The Fight for Universal Health Coverage in America."

The free public lecture includes a responding panel discussion. Panelists include Steven Larchuk, a Pittsburgh attorney and an alumnus of the Pitt School of Law; Andrea Fox, associate professor in Pitt's School of Medicine and medical director of the Squirrel Hill Community Health Center; Valerie Carr Copeland, associate professor in Pitt's School of Social Work and Graduate School of Public Health; and Beaufort B. Longest Jr. professor of health policy and management and director of Pitt's Health Policy Institute in the Graduate School of Public Health.

Families USA's mission is to achieve high-quality, affordable healthcare coverage for everyone in the United States. Under Pollack's direction, Families USA has prepared numerous reports and analyses on health care, particularly on healthcare coverage for uninsured and underinsured families, public health programs, prescription drug issues, HMO-related consumer protections, and long-term care. These reports often are cited at Congressional hearings, in state legislatures, and by the media and various consumer organizations.

Pollack received his law degree from the New York University School of Law where he was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow. He served as dean of the Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C., and was founding executive director of the Food Research and Action Center, a leading national organization focused on the elimination of hunger in the United States. In that capacity, Pollack brought litigation that resulted in the creation of the WIC Program for malnourished mothers and infants. He also argued many cases in the federal courts to improve food aid for low-income Americans, including two successful cases on the same day before the U.S. Supreme Court,

Pollack is a frequent guest on such programs as The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America and Nightline, CNN's Larry King Live and Crossfire, NPR's All Things Considered and Morning Edition and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.

The Rubash Distinguished Lecture Series was established through gifts from Norman J. Rubash, a 1957 graduate of Pitt's School of Law, and his wife, Alice Chapman Rubash, a 1956 graduate of Pitt's School of Social Work. Each year a distinguished individual in the fields of law and social work is invited to the University to present a public lecture.

Two hours of Continuing Education (CE) credit may be obtained, and the program also is approved for two hours of substantive CLE credits. A fee is payable at the door. For more information on CE credits, call Tracy Soska at 412-624-3711 or tsssw@pitt.edu or visit www.pitt.edu/~pittssw. For information on CLE credits call Matt Moon at 412-648-1320 or mmoon@law.pitt.edu or visit www.law.pitt.edu/alumni/cle/index.php.

###

10/5/06/tmw