New frontier for public health entrepreneur
Don Holzworth, the executive in residence at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, has been inspired by helping those who live in more than 60 countries.
The risk of betting personal futures, cash and credit lines on new start-ups, untried ideas and emerging markets is the essence of being an entrepreneur.
Don Holzworth, Executive in Residence at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, took even greater risks in his own entrepreneurial pursuits. He has focused on solutions in public health and health care in both the U.S. and developing world.
He has been inspired by helping those who live in more than 60 countries, for whom fresh water, basic sanitation, electricity and floors not made of earth are an exception to the rule.
His is entrepreneurial risk-taking, coupled with the desire to help people — but there’s another element involved, as well.
“I’ve always had a sense of adventure,” says Holzworth, with a smile. “Nothing too crazy, but I definitely like a challenge.”
Risk, adventure and entrepreneurism — and an eye on public health — figure into Holzworth’s next challenge — space flight.
Specifically, Holzworth is training to be among the first private citizens to venture into space on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.
For Holzworth, a suborbital flight more than 60 miles above the earth is the culmination of a lifelong dream.
“I grew up during the space race and greatly admired the Mercury astronauts — and then those in the Gemini and Apollo programs,” says Holzworth, who also chairs the Gillings School’s advisory council and previously was on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s board of visitors. “I wanted to be an astronaut, and John Glenn was my hero growing up. I even got to meet him twice.”
The first meeting was when Holzworth was in Boy Scouts. Years later, he met Glenn again when the surviving Mercury 7 astronauts came back to Chapel Hill, N.C., to commemorate the extensive celestial navigation instruction they received at Morehead Planetarium.
Holzworth credits scouting with stoking his sense of adventure. Hiking and camping in the Rocky Mountains and canoeing in the U.S.-Canadian boundary waters wilderness taught him to respect nature while giving him a new perspective on the limits he could approach and conquer. Through it all, he held fast to his dream of becoming an astronaut, so much so that he worked all through high school with a single goal in mind — to earn a commission to the Air Force Academy’s pilot training program.
“I did it, too,” he said, with a touch of pride in his voice. “But when I came to the crossroad, I decided to follow another path.”
The decision was motivated in large part by the Vietnam War. Rather than entering the Academy, Holzworth opted for a bachelor’s of science degree in systems analysis and a master’s degree in environmental sciences, both from Miami University in Ohio. He also received advanced graduate training in biostatistics at N.C. State University.
To keep reading, visit the Gillings School of Global Public Health.
