Victor J. Schoenbach, PhD
Emeritus Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology (link)
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health (link)

Dr. Schoenbach holds degrees in Economics (Columbia University College of General Studies, BS, 1968; LSE, MSc 1969), public health education (UNC, MSPH 1975) and epidemiology (UNC, PhD 1979).  He has conducted observational and intervention research on smoking cessation, HIV seroprevalence, partner notification for HIV-positive persons, STI epidemiology, HIV in African Americans, and concurrent sexual partnerships.

With the assistance of several co-instructors and nearly 250 epidemiology graduate students, Schoenbach has taught introductory epidemiology to approximately 400 epidemiology majors (TA names) and over 6,000 non-majors (TA names) since joining the UNC faculty in 1980. His web-published “Evolving Text” (English and Spanish) have been downloaded thousands of times, and his lectures and case studies have been used by faculty at over a dozen universities. From 1998 until 2016, Dr. Schoenbach led the UNC school of public health Minority Health Project, which presents interactive broadcasts on health equity topics and works with the Minority Student Caucus on its annual Minority Health Conference and webcast. During 2014-2017, Dr. Schoenbach taught a spring seminar course with the late Bill Jenkins on "Social Justice and Equality - In Search of John Cassel's Epidemiology". In conjunction with the course, he created a "virtual library" (link), including recorded interviews with UNC public health faculty and alumni and other materials on the history of minority health activities at UNC.

Schoenbach joined the Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) and the American Public Health Association (APHA) in the 1970s. In 2016, the APHA Epidemiology Section recognized his teaching contributions with its Abraham Lilienfeld Award. Schoenbach joined  the American College of Epidemiology (ACE) in 1983, become a Fellow in 1994, served as chair of the College's Minority Affairs Committee from its inception in 1991 to 1997, during which time the Committee drafted the College’s Statement of Principles on Epidemiology and Minority Populations and accompanying published commentary, and published three articles. Schoenbach also chaired the Finance Committee (1997-98) and the Communications Committee (1998-2001 and 2006-2007), managed the College’s website (2000-2004), and served on the Nominations Committee, and two terms on the Board of Directors (1996-1999 and 2012-2015). In 2004 he received an award from the College for Leadership and Distinguished Service 1983-2004. In 2018 he received the College's Abraham Lilienfeld Award, named after its principal founder.

Websites

https://go.unc.edu/vjs - Various web links

https://go.unc.edu/epid - Epidemiology teaching materials and history of the UNC Department of Epidemiology

https://go.unc.edu/sjae - Social Justice and Equality - In Search of John Cassel's Epidemiology, and virtual library

https://go.unc.edu/acemac - ACE Minority Affairs Committee