Rachel Campbell Zorn, MPH '16, passed away at Agrace HospiceCare from metastatic ocular melanoma. She graduated in 2011 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BA in biology and certificates in African studies and gender and women's studies. She studied abroad in Kenya, working to better connect marginalized communities with HIV services. Improving health care for underserved populations was a driving academic and professional interest throughout her life. She entered the Peace Corps in 2012, serving two years in Senegal, working in three languages to improve malaria prevention and treatment services in remote areas of Senegal, and to train incoming Peace Corps volunteers. In 2014, she was diagnosed with and treated for ocular melanoma shortly before she began her graduate studies.
She earned multiple honors for her leadership, innovation, and academic excellence despite losing her right eye to the disease in 2015. She completed her program on schedule with her cohort while teaching and serving as executive director of the HAVEN Free Clinic. She dedicated her career in health care technology to improving patient care and advancing health equity on local and global scales. Her work was guided by her dedication to collaboration, pursuit of excellence, and a tireless commitment to improving the lives of others.
She married Karthik Bala in 2020 in Washburn, WI, on a dock on her beloved Lake Superior. The couple had a son, Luka Zorn Bala.
Her life was in full swing when her disease metastasized in August 2023. The efforts of her devoted care team helped her have another 16 months. She filled that time with as much love as possible for Luka, her family and friends, and with experiences (including the Eras Tour). She leaves us with the feeling that we should seize the day: make the trip, see the friends, take the risk. She is loved and she is missed.
Agnes Edwards, MPH '89, passed away at Arbor Landing at Pawleys in South Carolina. Born on July 12, 1936, she was committed to her community and served as a member for various organizations that included the National Association of Social Workers, League of Women Voters (South Carolina Board and Georgetown Board), Belle Island Book Club and Hopalong Cassidy Book Club. She held several positions on the Belle Island Board of Advisors and volunteered with the American Red Cross. She loved to volunteer in her community, entertain with friends and travel the world.
Susan Jennings, MPH '81, died at her home in Falmouth, Maine. She was born on March 11, 1947, in Evanston, Illinois. She graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL and continued her education at Carleton College, graduating magna cum laude in 1968. She received an MA from Washington University in Saint Louis in 1972 and a Master of Public Health and the Richard Weinerman Fellowship from Yale University in 1981. She met Joel Kallich at Boston University in 1982 and they were married in July 1983. She completed her graduate studies at Boston University as a University Fellow, where she received her PhD in sociology in 1989. During this period, she worked at the American Institutes for Research, the Health Data Institute, and the Health Policy Institute of Boston University. Recruited to Santa Monica-based Value Health Sciences in 1989, she was promoted to senior vice president and head of software development and services; she continued as the senior director of West Coast Operations after Pfizer purchased VHS. Upon retiring, she put her energy and creativity into volunteer work for community organizations. In California, she was president of the Malibu Creek State Park Docents, raising money, staffing the visitor center, and guiding hikes for city children. She worked and traveled around the globe. After she and her husband moved to Maine in 2013, they taught classes and programs at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute where she also served on the advisory board.
Charles MacIntosh, MPH '61, died peacefully at Goodwin House, Baileys Crossroads, VA, at the age of 91. He was a great-great-nephew of Joseph Wright Taylor, founder of Bryn Mawr College. Born in Haverford, PA on August 15, 1933, he attended Haverford Friends School and The Haverford School. He was a 1956 ROTC graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, where he formed lifelong friendships and remained involved with alumni activities. He served in the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1958 and was deployed to Korea. After earning an MPH from Yale University in 1961, he held various roles in hospital administration including in Rochester, NY, Baltimore, MD, and Philadelphia, PA. Among his many interests were flying airplanes (small aircraft and gliders), running marathons, playing tennis and squash (into his 80s), playing the bagpipes, sailing, and painting watercolors. He was a member of the St. Andrews Society, the Merion Cricket Club, Pocono Lake Preserve, and the Valley Forge Gun Club.
Marcia Marsted, MPH '88, died peacefully with her husband and daughter by her side. She was born in Hartford, CT on May 30, 1943. She and her husband, Jeff, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last June. Her deep love for her husband sustained her during many difficult years of health challenges. They loved to tell the story of when they met at a fraternity party at Williams College. Having just returned from Paris, she arrived in a beautiful brown suede coat as a blind date for someone else. Jeff noticed her across the room, went up to introduce himself, and that was that. They were inseparable ever since. They lived for over 55 years in Canton, CT where she created her Garden of Whimsy, which was included in garden tours. She volunteered and participated in many activities in Canton, including Roaring Brook Nature Center and Canton Garden Club, and she was a long-time member of the Gallery on the Green. She went to boarding school at the Northfield School in Northfield, MA. After a gap year at St. Clare's Hall in Oxford, England, she attended Bennett College in Millbrook, NY. She obtained a bachelor's and master's degree in biology from the University of Hartford, and a Master of Public Health from Yale University. She was chair of the science department at the Watkinson School where she taught biology. A two-time cancer survivor, she volunteered at the University of Connecticut Health Center and the American Cancer Society before working in the lab of Dr. Bijay Mukerjee at UConn as a research assistant. She wrote and photographed herself for "About My Hair" when she went through chemotherapy after her second bout with cancer and documented the experience of losing her hair. She later created the Capelli d'Angeli Foundation to support women artists dealing with cancer.
James Rawlings, MPH ‘80, died of natural causes on May 25, 2025. He was 81 and a devoted community elder.
Rawlings earned a BS in pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island and an MPH from Yale. He retired as the first African American assistant vice president and executive director of community health at Yale New Haven Hospital after a 35-year career. He pioneered Connecticut’s first hospital-based adult AIDS and Sickle Cell programs, both of which received national recognition. He administratively oversaw hospital departments including the emergency department, laboratory medicine, and medical/surgical units.
He was a tireless advocate for equity and justice. He served as president of the Greater New Haven NAACP where he transformed the branch through data-driven strategies and elevated its community impact. Under his leadership, the branch launched New England’s largest community health fair and the region’s first Urban Career Fair for youth.
He served on the board of directors of the National NAACP and chaired its sickle cell disease committee. He also served as treasurer for the National Board of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. He chaired the Connecticut Health Equity Commission and was health chair for the CT State NAACP Conference. His lifelong dedication to health equity earned him national honors, including recognition by the National Civic League, an award given to only 35 individuals annually.
Until his death, Mr. Rawlings served as president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, CT Chapter (SCDAA.CT), where he founded Michelle’s House, the first Sickle Cell Community Center in the Northeast. He championed academic support for students living with Sickle Cell Disease and spearheaded outreach programs for individuals unaware of their SCD and Sickle Cell Trait status. His leadership brought a unique partnership with CVS Health to advance equity in health care for the Sickle Cell community.
In 2014, he stepped down from his fourth term as NAACP branch president to focus on another lifelong passion, preserving Native American culture. An elder of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, he worked diligently to ensure that his tribe’s traditions and teachings would live on in New Haven and his tribal homeland.
He was also a respected global voice on public health. He most recently presided over his final Freedom Fund Dinner as NAACP president at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale, where Mayor Toni Harp praised him as “a real blessing to our community… [who] has given the organization plenty of heart.” He served as chairman of the board for Ella B. Scantlebury Senior Residence.
Martyn R. Smith, PhD '78, a resident of Houghton and former Michigan Technological University professor, department head, and dean of the graduate school, died at home after a long struggle with dementia. He received his BA in mathematics from Montclair State University and his PhD in biostatistics from Yale University. After four years in the Behavioral Sciences and Community Health Division at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, he joined Michigan Tech's Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, later serving as department head. He pursued research and taught courses in statistics and biostatistics. In 1989, he accepted an appointment as professor in the Mathematics and Statistics Department at Winona State University, where he was director of the Center for Applied Statistics and Process Improvement and pioneered many distance learning courses. He was also a consultant for Proctor and Gamble, Colgate, IBM, and the American Dental Association. He held a concurrent faculty appointment at the Mayo Clinic School of Health-Related Sciences in Rochester, NY, where he taught epidemiology and other courses. He returned to Michigan Tech where he was appointed dean of the graduate school, director of distance learning and summer school, and professor of biostatistics in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He especially enjoyed working with and mentoring biomedical engineering and mathematics undergraduate and graduate students up to and after his retirement in 2015. His quick wit, unbridled enthusiasm for "mischief," and kind heart gave him a talent for bringing people together. He loved music and was a lifelong sailor. A hiker, cyclist, cross-country skier, and fisherman, he cared more about sharing moments with friends than catching fish. His passion for adventure took him to Australia, Greece, Turkey, the Netherlands, St. Kitts, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and South Africa. In 2016 he spent five memorable weeks walking the Camino de Santiago through southwestern France and northern Spain. His greatest joy was time spent with family, friends, and dogs in the water and on the beach at family camps on Little Traverse Bay.
Leon Vinci, MPH '77, a former innovative and progressive health director for the City of Middletown, CT, passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. A distinguished figure in public and environmental health, he had dedicated more than three decades to advancing community well-being and public health preparedness across the United States. Born and raised in Middletown, CT, he earned his bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University, and a master's in public health from the Yale School of Public Health. He later achieved a doctorate from the Medical University of South Carolina. He held leadership roles in local and county public health departments across Connecticut, Nebraska, and Kansas. His commitment to environmental health led him to participate in various national and international committees and task forces. He also taught at several universities including Drexel University, Yale University, and the University of Nebraska. He was recognized as a climate and health leader by ecoAmerica, received the 2020 A. Clark Slaymaker Honor from the Virginia Environmental Health Association, and served as a climate ambassador with the National Environmental Health Association. He was a fan of road trips, food, and sports, frequently combining all three on weekend trips with his children from Philly to DC, NYC and the Midwest. You could catch him in his silver Jeep on the highway listening to his favorite Woodstock tunes, excited for his next adventure.