PITT STUDENT WINS ABBOTT LABORATORIES FELLOWSHIP

PITTSBURGH, July 16 -- Irene Cho, a candidate for the master of health administration and master of business administration degrees at the University of Pittsburgh's Health Administration Program, was selected for the Abbott Laboratories Fellowship for the 1999-2000 academic year.

The fellowship, administered by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA), recognizes and supports graduate students who aspire to become health care executives working in underserved communities.

Cho, a native of McKee City, New Jersey, will receive a $5,000 scholarship and an all expense paid trip to Chicago, where she will tour the Abbott Laboratory facilities and attend a professional symposium. Cho is the second Pitt student to receive the Abbott Laboratories Fellowship. Sherrie Settle was the first, in 1991.

In its nomination papers for Cho, the Selection and Nominating Committee expressed its high esteem for her work. "Irene is quite bright, as her application and academic records will confirm, but it is her personal qualities that set her apart and allow her to relate and serve others in an exemplary fashion. Irene ... exhibits an exceptionally high level of native intelligence and creative altruism." The Committee was composed of Ralph T. DeStefano, senior vice president, Hospital Division, UPMC Health System, Dr. Judith Lave and Duane Kavinsky of the Health Administration Program. DeStefano, spokesman for the group, thanked Dr. Janet Porter and Lydia Reed of the AUPHA and William M. Dwyer of Abbott Laboratories for their generosity in providing the award.

The Health Administration Program at Pitt combines requirements for both the MHA and the MBA in a "two degrees in two years" program through the Graduate School of Public Health and Katz Business School.

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