Eugine Feingold was more than a former professor of public health and department chair – he fought for equality and social justice, Public Health Dean emeritus Myron Wegman said. Feingold was a strong supporter for civil rights, freedom of speech and national health insurance.
Feingold died at age 71 of heart disease in Ann Arbor last Sunday. He spent most of his professional career teaching public health management and policy at the University until retirement in 1989. He also served as acting dean and associate dean of Rackham Graduate School.
“He was interested in all the rights of the human being,” Wegman said.
Feingold was on the national board of the American Civil Liberties Union and worked at a local level to work against poverty and racial discrimination.
After retirement from the School of Public Health, Feingold became a student at the University’s Law School. He earned a law degree, graduating cum laude, after which he worked pro-bono on ACLU cases.
“He was a real pillar for the ACLU. He was strong and effective,” Wegman said. Feingold earned the Jerome Strong Award in 2001 for his service to the ACLU of Michigan.
The former president of the American Public Health Association, Feingold wrote extensively about Medicare, Medicaid, health care reform, national insurance and neighborhood health centers.
Feingold was a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Council on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and of the Core Public Health Functions Steering Committee. He was often consulted for government agencies dealing with the organization and financing of health care.
He also represented the state on the board of directors of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
Feingold grew up in Brooklyn and attended undergraduate at Cornell University. He studied further at Syracuse University and earned master’s and doctoral degrees at Princeton University before coming to the University in 1962.
“He was a very warm, friendly person, very deeply interested in people. His presence will be very missed,” Wegman said of Feingold, who left behind his wife of 42 years, Marcia, and his daughters, Eleanor and Ruth.