1. Julio Jose Frenk Mora was born on December 20,1953 and is a Mexican public health scholar and sociologist, serving as the 7th chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles starting January 1,2025.
16 Facts About Julio Frenk
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Julio Frenk was born on December 20,1953, in Mexico City.
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Julio Frenk's mother was Alicia Josefina Mora Alfaro, a Mexican biochemist.
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Julio Frenk received an undergraduate medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City in 1979.
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Julio Frenk then attended the University of Michigan, where he received a Master of Public Health in 1981, a Master of Arts in sociology in 1982, and a joint Doctor of Philosophy in medical care organization and sociology in 1983.
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Julio Frenk is the brother of famed Mexican astrophysicist Carlos Julio Frenk.
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In 1984, Julio Frenk was appointed director of the Centre of Public Health Research in the Ministry of Health of Mexico, a role he held until 1987.
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Julio Frenk has served in several academic roles, including as a senior researcher at the National Institute of Public Health and as adjunct professor of medicine and national researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
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In 1998, Julio Frenk was appointed executive director of evidence and information for policy at the World Health Organization in Geneva.
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In 2003, as Mexico's secretary of health, Julio Frenk introduced a comprehensive national health insurance program called Seguro Popular, which expanded access to health care for tens of millions of previously uninsured Mexicans.
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In 2003, Julio Frenk was among five final candidates for the position of director-general of the World Health Organization alongside Lee Jong-wook, Pascoal Mocumbi, Peter Piot, and Ismail Sallam; Lee was eventually appointed the position.
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In 2004, Julio Frenk was criticized by tobacco control advocates for his role in cutting an unusual deal with tobacco companies in which Philip Morris and British American Tobacco agreed to donate $400 million for health programs in Mexico over two and a half years but reserved the right to cancel the donation if cigarette taxes were raised.
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Julio Frenk served on the High-Level Task Force for the International Conference on Population and Development, co-chaired by Joaquim Chissano and Tarja Halonen, from 2012 to 2014.
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In 2013, Julio Frenk joined Vicente Fox and others in campaigning for marijuana legalization at a series of events in the United States and Mexico.
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In 2015, Julio Frenk co-edited a collection of non-fiction essays on the subject of global health, "To Save Humanity," which included work from Michelle Bachelet, Larry Summers, Elton John, Julio Frenk, and others.
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On June 12,2024, the University of California, Los Angeles announced that Julio Frenk would be joining UCLA as the university's chancellor on January 1,2025.