As a former varsity athlete and a board-certified primary care sports medicine physician, Dr. Kim Fulton, MD, knows something about how to gauge performance. And in her opinion, “I think the School of Public Health is going places,” she said.
Fulton and her husband, Chris Michalik, wanted to help the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) as it entered its second year of independence, so they recently endowed a senior fellowship at YSPH. They were both Yale College graduates. Yale, Fulton said, “made a profound impact on our lives, in our educational trajectory, and our ability to be exposed to the world and have all sorts of opportunities.”
Their gift is meant to help Dean Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH, bring prominent public health leaders to YSPH as fellows. The Kim Fulton ’91 MD Senior Health Fellowship provides “a sustaining opportunity to make a real impact on the school,” Fulton said, adding that “when you see something positive, like Megan steering this ship, you want to support it and take the opportunity to make a real impact on the school in its adolescence.”
The inaugural fellowship holder is Dr. Anne Zink, MD, who Ranney appointed as lecturer and senior fellow in 2024.
Zink was Alaska's chief medical officer during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is nationally recognized for developing novel public health strategies and implementing data-driven health care solutions. At YSPH, she is co-developer of PopHIVE, a platform that puts near-real-time, reliable health data into the hands of the public.
In the spring semester, Zink plans to teach a case-based Leadership Challenges in Public Health course, on "what I wish I knew working in governmental public health that emphasizes real-world problem solving,” she said. Each class will feature an interview with a national public health leader sharing what they wish they had known and offering advice to the next generation of public health leaders.
Fulton appreciates that Zink’s students will “put down their textbooks ... and start to figure out the real application of some of the material they’re learning.”
Zink, meanwhile, says having the opportunity to bring real-world experience to the fellowship “is everything.” Combining her professional knowledge with “the amazing academic rigor and professionalism at Yale ... is leading to new, innovative, and exciting opportunities both for tenured Yale faculty and other professionals,” Zink said. “But more than anything I think it is aligning our work to best serve people.”
Fulton received her MD from Tufts University. Her husband is managing director at a private equity firm specializing in the health care services sector. Recently, they led the gift campaign for Yale's Lapham Field House at the Smilow Field Center. Chris Michalik played football at Yale while Fulton lettered in track and field all four years.
“Much like the fieldhouse opportunity, supporting YSPH was something that Chris and I both felt strongly about,” said Fulton. “It matched the intersection of our love of Yale and our interest in health care.”
The couple has chaired numerous reunion gift committees, including their upcoming 35th reunion. They serve on the For Humanity Campaign Committee and are members of the Parents Leadership Council. Fulton is vice chair of the YSPH Leadership Council and was on the board of the Breast Cancer Alliance in Greenwich where she advocated for a breast surgery fellowship. She wrote a health curriculum for the Peer Health Exchange about 10 years ago, which she considers her first foray into public health.
Fulton continues to look for ways to bolster public health. “I think the Yale School of Public Health has a great opportunity to come out on top,” she said.