Alumni Association
Laura Kann
Laura Kann was greatly influenced by her work with William Yarber, with whom she studied at Purdue University in the early 1980s. When Yarber left Purdue to join HPER’s Department of Applied Health Science, Kann followed to pursue her Ph.D. “The technical courses were particularly good,” said Kann of the HPER program. “They are key to what I do.”
What she does today improves the lives of millions around the globe. Since 1987, Kann has worked at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta in the Division of Adolescent and School Health. Her work revolves around three major public health surveillance systems of her creation: the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, School Health Policies and Programs Study, and School Health Profiles. Kann said the surveys give an accurate reflection of what kids do—not what grown-ups think they do—so that policy makers can make better decisions. “It’s really cool to watch these data get translated into the context of vending machines, drunk-driving laws, HIV education. It’s applicable, not an academic exercise,” she says. Kann also travels internationally (most recently to Kazakhstan, Congo, Beijing, and Cairo), teaching schools how to conduct their own surveys.
Bloomington and the school of HPER remain in her thoughts. Her former boss at the CDC, Lloyd Kolbe, joined the School of HPER’s faculty recently as a professor of Applied Health Science. Kann is a Dean’s Associate and stays in close touch with the friends she met at IU. “I loved the program,” Kann said. “I recommend it frequently.”
