Emory University joins the world in mourning the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter November 19, 2023 We celebrate her courage as a champion of mental health, childhood immunization, and human rights.
In transformative efforts to advance mental health in the United States and around the world, she has collaborated with Emory experts for decades, combining her vision of a more equitable health system with the university’s strengths in research, training, and services. I did.
Mrs. Carter’s deep involvement with the university was one half of an unforgettable chapter in which both Mr. Carter, Rosalyn and President Jimmy Carter turned to Mr. Emory to help them achieve their ambitious post-presidency goals. . Established by husband and wife in 1982 Carter Center Work with Emory to promote peace and democracy and address global health challenges.
Former President Carter joined Emory University’s faculty as a Distinguished Professor, teaching classes and memorable town halls to first-year students each year for 39 years. He even joked, “We built a marriage with Emory and it’s going really well.”
“Mrs. Carter’s wisdom, determination, and kindness were evident in everything she did. We are deeply grateful for her many contributions and are honored to partner with her on this historic work in mental health.” I’m proud of what I did.”
—Emory President Gregory L. Fenves
Rosalynn Carter carried her briefcase to her office in the East Wing every day, something no other first lady had ever done. She also founded the First Lady Project Authority. This is her and her personal assistant Madeline McBean on March 17, 1977. (Credit: Jimmy Carter Library)
Rosalynn Carter carried her briefcase to her office in the East Wing every day, something no other first lady had ever done. She also founded the First Lady Project Authority. This is her and her personal assistant Madeline McBean on March 17, 1977. (Credit: Jimmy Carter Library)
Even in their later years, the couple worked together with remarkable energy to focus on a variety of issues, but from the beginning President Carter understood the difference in Mrs. Carter’s ability to act on her own.
During her time in the White House, he thought it was “natural” that she would sit on Cabinet meetings, advise the president on appointments, serve as the president’s special envoy overseas, and continue to advance the mental health work she started in Georgia. was. When Mrs. Carter testified before Congress in 1979 as chair emeritus of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, she became only the second first lady, after President Eleanor Roosevelt, to do so.
Her achievements are reflected in various fields. She co-founded the vaccination campaign Every Child by Two. She co-founded the Carter Center with President Carter in 1982. She also served on the Policy Advisory Board of the Atlanta Project, a Carter Center initiative that addresses the social ills of poverty.
But she is primarily known for improving mental health resources. As she tirelessly reminded us, her mental illness is not something that remains in the shadows, and she is not something that only one in four Americans experience. .
As a sign of its unwavering commitment, in May 2023, the Carter Center noted that Mrs. Carter suffers from dementia.
Part of the statement reads as follows: “We recognize that stigma often acts as a barrier to individuals and their families from seeking and obtaining the support they need, as she did more than half a century ago. We hope that by sharing family news, we will increase important conversations at dinner tables and in clinics across the country.”
