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Bio
Winnie Odessa Willis
School of Nursing
School of Nursing
Winnie Odessa Willis, Sc.D., R.N., Assistant Professor of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health
Diploma, Jersey City Center School of Nursing; B.A., Health, Education and Nursing, Jersey City State College, 1965; M.Ed., Health Education, Boston University, 1970; M.S., Harvard University, 1972; D.Sc., Maternal and Child Health, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 1982.
University of Michigan: Assistant Professor of Maternal and Child Health, Community Health Program, School of Public Health, 1973-1977; Assistant Professor of Nursing (adjunct), School of Nursing, 1974-1975.
In 1984 Willis joined the faculty of San Diego State University (SDSU). At SDSU she specialized in maternal and child health services, development and evaluation in the Graduate School of Public Health. She was named emeritus professor in 2004.
SDSU’s list of emeriti summarizes her accomplishments as follows: “Winnie O. Willis (emeritus: 2004) was one of the founders of the specialization in maternal and child health. She was Director of the SPH Institute for Public Health (IPH) from 1994-2000. Her research has focused on pregnant women and pesticide exposures, infant mortality in African-Americans, quality of clinical services for breast and cervical cancer, and public health professions personnel training.”