The Sewanee Community was saddened to learn of the death of Paul Farmer, a physician, anthropologist, and co-founder of Partners in Health, an international social justice and health organization.

Honorary Degree Citation read at Winter Convocation, February 2017

A medical anthropologist and physician, Dr. Paul Farmer is a founding director of Partners In Health, an international organization that provides health care services and undertakes research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty. Dr. Farmer is a pioneer in community-based treatment strategies for AIDS and tuberculosis.

Many in our community discovered Dr. Farmer as the subject of Tracy Kidder’s book, Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. The Pulitzer Prize winning volume was required reading for an unprecedented four classes of Sewanee first-year students, the only book ever assigned to multiple classes. Dr. Farmer’s story inspired us, leading us to reflect on our own privilege and to consider the proposition that healthcare is a basic human right, a proposition appropriately considered in an academic setting

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Please share your memories and recollections of Paul and his work. We will post your stories on this page.

Jim Peterman, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Civic Engagement

Paul Farmer: Our Friend

One defining feature of Sewanee—I use the informal name on purpose—is how interpersonal networks, not connected to formal programs, spring up and define signature aspirations through overlapping interests and projects. These networks get associated with names of people, places, and traditions. By not being connected to formal programs, these names attach to open-ended personal visions and goals, with enough overlap to give the network an understandable identity and shape. In some cases, the network is never publicly acknowledged. It’s just there, and folks recognize themselves, along with others, as tacit fellow-travelers. Sometimes these loose groups get named. If this naming of this network has not yet happened, I will do that now—"The Paul Farmers."

Amy Patterson, Professor and Chair of the Department of Politics

I was fortunate to interview Dr. Farmer in 2006 when I was working on my first book, The Politics of AIDS in Africa. He graciously and patiently answered my long list of questions about World Bank, US government, and Global Fund efforts on AIDS. His insights helped me better understand how these donor programs often had fallen short, and his commitment to AIDS treatment for all was a theme throughout our conversation. Unlike many of the other respondents I had interviewed, he had a vision for what health as a human right really meant. It wasn't about the logistics of programming or budget considerations, but about helping people live longer, better lives. I was inspired and energized. Since that first encounter with Dr. Farmer, I have assigned his book Pathologies of Power and some of his articles on the West African Ebola outbreak in several courses. In doing so, I want students to understand the complex social determinants of health. But I also want them to think as Dr. Farmer did: not about the obstacles in global health and development, but about what should (and can) be done. Dr. Farmer's energy, kindness, and advocacy inspire us all to work for a more just world.

Luke Alderson, Community Member

My fellow students and I were given the honor and pleasure of meeting Dr. Farmer almost exactly a year ago, when he spoke to us over zoom at an event my organization was hosting. We learned about his and PIH's story, and the amazing work that him and his colleagues were accomplishing. It was of the defining moments of my time at Sewanee, and in my journey to medicine, when he encouraged us to continue to learn and serve, and I'm glad to have met him in his truly meaningful time on Earth.

Robert MacSwain, Professor - The School of Theology

I never had the privilege of meeting Paul Farmer in person, but I first encountered him in an essay by Vanessa Carbonell titled, "What Moral Saints Look Like," *Canadian Journal of Philosophy* 39 (2009): 371–98. I read this article as part of my ongoing research into radical altruism and moral sainthood as evidence for God, and was thus delighted that Sewanee honored him back in 2017. Moral saints like Dr. Farmer don't just live differently than most of us, they have a transformative effect on those who meet or even just hear about them, causing us to revaluate our priorities and commitments. He will thus be mentioned in my forthcoming book on this topic. While I am very sad about his sudden and premature death, his remarkable work and influence will long outlive him.

Want to know more about Paul Farmer's life and legacy?

Watch
Bending the Arc

Decades before they launched the first statewide contact tracing program to fight COVID-19 in the United States, and long before they helped battle Ebola in West Africa, three young people barely out of their teens began a movement that would change global health forever. Bending the Arc is the story of Harvard medical student Paul Farmer, idealistic physician Jim Yong Kim, activist Ophelia Dahl, and the international movement at the center of some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises.

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Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Tracy Kidder’s magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease. Profound and powerful, Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes people’s minds through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.”

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Doctor, teacher, activist remembered by PIH, global health community

Partners In Health honored the life and legacy of Dr. Paul Farmer in a memorial service in Boston on Saturday, March 12, alongside friends and family of the late PIH co-founder and leaders in the global health community. The two-hour memorial service took place at Trinity Church in Copley Square, where more than 600 people gathered and thousands more joined virtually, from Rwanda to Peru. Eulogies were delivered by PIH Co-founder Dr. Jim Kim; Catherine Farmer, Paul’s oldest daughter; Dr. Anthony Fauci, a friend and chief medical advisor to President Joseph Biden; and PIH Co-founder Ophelia Dahl, who remembered Farmer’s fierce love and compassion, visionary leadership, and relentless humor.

Dr. Paul Farmer’s Memorial Service