8 The First-Ever Clinical Division of Global Health Equity

It was this same generosity of spirit that turned Howard into an extraordinary mentor. Dr. Marshall Wolf was at Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1972 when Howard was appointed dean of the school of public health. Wolf was delighted to see Howard take the position because it meant he would no longer be leading Wolf's rival department of medicine at Beth Israel Hospital. At the time, Wolf led the Brigham residency program. Traditionally, Mass General Hospital had been the only serious rival for the Brigham in attracting the top residents, but under Howard, that had changed. “At Beth Israel Howard recruited a bunch of wonderful young people to run various divisions and that gave us at the Brigham a hard run for our money as the most attractive training program,” recalls Wolf. Wolf did not know Howard particularly well but that changed when Howard arrived at the Brigham and began digging into the issue of global health. Like Howard, Wolf also provided guidance to Paul Farmer and Jim Kim.