LIFELONG SCHOLAR AND AGENT OF CHANGE Academic scholarship. Mentoring. Community leadership. Teaching. Research. It seems that Bryan O. Buckley, Spartan in public health, has accomplished it all. But he’s really just getting started. For Buckley, public health is his vehicle to make the world better. Buckley, a lifelong scholar and an agent
“Stay hungry. Public health is not an easy
of change, is a first-generation American
field to be in. You’re up against a lot of big
citizen. Buckley credits his Antiguan
systems. And even if you fail, remember
family’s work ethic and academic
that only through failure can we ever truly
accomplishments with his drive to
innovate. And I think in public health we
constantly pursue further knowledge.
constantly have to do that.
After receiving his B.S. from MSU in
“Stay curious. As new technologies
microbiology, Buckley considered a
are coming about — telemental health,
career in medical technology until one
social media — how can public health be
of his professors suggested going into
integrated into this? We should be curious
public health might be a better fit for his
not just about the field of public health but
outgoing personality. Heeding her advice,
other fields that intersect public health.
he enrolled in an epidemiology course
We need to be curious about how we can
and entered MSU’s MPH program the year
integrate these in a more seamless way.
after. Buckley has a three-pronged tenet he shares with others:
“And of course, be humble. We are only
1. Stay Hungry.
a small piece in this world, and when it
2. Stay Curious.
comes to large-scale change, we need
3. Stay Humble.
others. This field requires a team, a community of people you have to be part of; it’s not about you.”
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