Ophelia Dahl DS ’94

Alumnae Achievement Awards 2008

Global Public Health Activist 

Ophelia Dahl DS ’94 has worked as an advocate for the health and rights of the poor for over twenty years. She is a founding trustee and currently the executive director of Partners in Health, a Boston based non-profit health care organization dedicated to providing the benefits of modern medical science to some of the most impoverished areas of the world.

Under Ms. Dahl’s leadership, Partners in Health forged groundbreaking successes in treating the diseases of the poor and promoting health and human rights in areas of the world that have been ravaged by political conflict, poverty, and international neglect. Perhaps most notably, Partners in Health has developed community-based programs to combat HIV/AIDS and treatment projects for multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, especially in Haiti, Peru, Russia, and Rwanda.

In 2005, Partners in Health was awarded the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world’s largest humanitarian award. Ms. Dahl, together with PIH co-founder, Dr. Paul Farmer received the Union Award in December 2006. She also serves on the board of her family’s foundation to honor the work of her father, the late writer Roald Dahl.

Ms. Dahl was the 2006 Wellesley College commencement speaker.