Antronette Yancey, professor in the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California at Los Angeles, died late last month following a battle with lung cancer. She was 55 years old.
A native of Kansas City, Kansas, Dr. Yancey was a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she majored in biochemistry and molecular biology and played on the basketball team. She then earned a medical degree at Duke University and completed her residency in preventive medicine and earned a master of public health degree at UCLA.
She served as director of public health in Richmond, Virginia, and then as director of chronic disease prevention and health promotion for Los Angeles County before beginning her academic career.
Dr. Yancey was the author of Instant Recess: Building a Fit Nation 10 Minutes at a Time (University of California Press, 2010).
“Dr. Yancey was an extraordinary life force who made an impact on everyone she knew — from those who only met her once to those who considered her a lifelong friend,” said Dr. Jody Heymann, dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “She has left a tremendous mark on the field of public health as a leader committed to, and exceptionally effective at, translating research into successful programs and policy, as a passionate teacher and mentor, as an acclaimed scholar and as a strong and crucial voice addressing inequities in health.”