In Memoriam: Camina Davis
Lecturer and BSPH Internship Coordinator Ms. Camina Davis, MS (’03), CHES, passed away on Sunday January 14, 2018, surrounded by family following an extended illness.
Camina joined the Public Health Sciences faculty in Fall 2007 as Lecturer and Internship Coordinator, concurrent with the launch of the BSPH program. After completing her master’s in the department in 2003, she worked briefly for UNC Charlotte as an adjunct faculty and health educator before joining the US Department of Health & Human Services’ (DHHS) Emerging Leaders Program. While with DHHS, Camina supported initiatives ranging from Minority Health Disparities, HIV/AIDS, Disability, and Emergency Preparedness, culminating as a Public Health Advisor and Project Lead for African American Initiatives.
Camina was a passionate advocate for undergraduate education, selflessly and tirelessly working to ensure that all of her students knew –and were prepared for – what was expected and needed of them in public health practice. She instilled respect, pragmatism, and optimism in her students, traits she exhibited in her professional and personal life. Camina was committed to her students, findings ways to continue her teaching up until the week before her passing.
Most of all, we will miss Camina’s warm smiles and commanding, upbeat good mornings, as we endeavor to fill the void she has left in our program and in our lives.
Our faculty and many others have made financial gifts to establish the Camina Davis Memorial Public Health Scholarship. Once endowed, the Scholarship will support undergraduate students in the Department of Public Health Sciences, with priority consideration given to students with financial need and a commitment to a career that advances community health.
If you would like to contribute to the Camina Davis Memorial Public Health Scholarship fund, please visit https://crowdfund.charlotte.edu/project/9119. Any questions about the Scholarship fund can be directed to Dr. Lyndie Forthofer, Professor and Chair, Department of Public Health Sciences (forthofer@uncc.edu) or Mr. Todd Marrs, CHHS Major Gifts Office (dmarrs@uncc.edu).