Alumna Teaches Arkansans About the Dangers of Tobacco Use
| Marian S. Evans, Dr.PH., MPH, is grateful for the chance to inform Arkansans of the risks of tobacco use.
Evans is the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office program coordinator. Additionally, she’s the interim director of the school’s Minority Research Center on Tobacco and Addictions. Both programs are governed by the UAPB Division of Research, Innovation and Economic Development.
“A high volume of tobacco-based advertising has plagued underserved communities,” she said. “Through my career, I explain to people the dangers of excessive tobacco advertising in certain communities. This work is especially important to me.”
Evans, an alumna of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, was part of the college’s inaugural Doctor of Public Health and Public Health Leadership Program cohort in 2006.
Evans said she benefits from the education daily.
“The work I do is important as tobacco-related diseases greatly hinder underrepresented Arkansas communities,” she said. “Therefore, I appreciate how the Doctor of Public Health program helped develop my skills and grasp of public health, which I use constantly, as I speak with individuals throughout Arkansas.”
After graduating from Pine Bluff’s Watson Chapel High School in 1995, Evans attended the University of Central Arkansas, where she earned a health sciences degree. Evans later attended the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Ultimately, she’d earn a Master of Public Health from the school.
Once she completed the program at Tulane, Evans was hired to manage a Health Resources and Services Administration grant-funded community assistance program in Dumas, Arkansas. Though Evans loved serving the people of southeast Arkansas, she wanted more professionally.
“My sister has a doctorate in molecular and cellular biology, and all little sisters want to be like their big sisters,” Evans said. “Therefore, after speaking with her about my desire to do more and receiving advice about getting a doctorate. I analyzed the current market and realized I’d need more than the MPH. I decided to go a step further and get a doctorate in public health.”
The College of Public Health’s Doctor of Public Health and Public Health Leadership program gave Evans exactly what she was looking for. Evans — who’s active in the community as a member of the Pine Bluff Chapter of The Links, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and the Arkansas Cancer Coalition — praised the school for how it prepared her for a career in which she has candid conversations with Arkansans about the dangers of tobacco.
“The individuals I was in the cohort with were like family,” she said. “With us being the first cohort, we were very close. Working with them made a difference. We also had classes where we worked with community members, which I greatly enjoyed.
“The instructors in the College of Public Health helped us and used their community resources to help advance our education. It was a wonderful experience.”