Snehendu B. Kar

Dr. Snehendu Bikash Kar, 89, of Champaign, Illinois, passed away at 7:07 pm, Monday, December 13, at the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. After an increasingly complex set of health complications, he died in comfort with his family by his side 24/7 in the five or so preceding days.

Dr. Karaffectionately referred to as "Kar"was born in Rangoon, Burma but was raised in Kolkata, India, and was especially devoted to his Indian, Bengali heritage. He completed his graduate studies with a masters in psychology at the University of Kolkata and a Dr.PH in public health at the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated at the top of his class. At Berkeley, he met his wife, Barbara, who survives him along with their two sons, Sanji and Robin, the latter of whom is a Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Just last year, Kar moved to Champaign with Barbara and Sanji to be closer to Robin.

Kar lived a full life, which was dedicated to promoting public healthespecially among the underprivileged. Kars public health career spanned over five decades and included academic research, graduate education, and academic leadership positions at three world class universities and public health schools in the United States. As the former Associate Dean and Chair of the then single-department School of Public Health at UCLA, he was responsible for directing all academic programs of the eight academic divisions of UCLAs Fielding School of Public Health, with over 90 faculty members and over 620 graduate students. He completed his career as the Fulbright-Nehru Distinguished Chair of Global Health and an Emeritus Professor of Public Health and Asian-American Studies at UCLA. He published more than 125 peer-reviewed articles and six books.

Prior to joining UCLA, Kar served as an Assistant and then Associate Professor of Public Health and Population Planning at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (1969-79). He also served as their Acting Chair of Population Planning. Before that, Kar served in several governmental positions in India. As part of the Central Health Education Bureau, Ministry of Health and Family Planning, he served as an Assistant Director General of Health Services (Research and Evaluation); a Deputy Assistant Director General; and a Senior Research Officer (1960-1969). From 1958-1960, he was a Senior Research Officer at the Bihar Tribal Research Institute in Ranchi.

Kar was especially interested in the social determinants of health, the empowerment of women to promote health and quality of life, multicultural health communication, leadership development, and health promotion in multicultural and underserved populations. Over the course of his career, he served as a consultant to numerous leading global organizations, including the United Nations/WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, Fulbright Commission, Smithsonian Institute, East-West Center (Hawaii), Kellogg Foundation, Ford Foundation, International Medical Corps, Western Consortium for Health Professions, Public Health Leadership Institute, Engineers Without Borders, Association of Schools of Public Health, and international universities and research institutes. He directed several multinational collaborative projects in Brazil, Egypt, India, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, USA, and Venezuela.

Toward the end of his life, Kar became increasingly interested in spirituality as a means of empowerment. He defined "spiritual empowerment" as a "sustained quest for seeking the truth and liberation through right actions." He believed that spirituality could be distinguished from any religious beliefs that may divide us, and that different religions were discerning different parts of a single spiritual truth. In the several days preceding his death, he had a number of spiritual experiences, stating that he was in a state of absolute "bliss" (despite his obvious physical discomfort) and repeating that "everything is one."

Themes of spirituality and womens empowerment were especially central to his two most recent books: Empowerment of Women for Promoting Global Health and Quality of Life (Oxford 2018) and Coming and Going: Poems and Songs of Rabindranath Tagore (Bee Books 2015). This latter book presents Kars translations of the spiritual poems of the Nobel Laureate Indian poet-philosopher Tagore coupled with Kars award-winning photos. Kar was an avid photographer and won many awards for his creative photography. He was also a great admirer of Tagore.

Though Kar planned to bring the topics of spirituality and womens empowerment together in a future book, he was aware that every project in life remains partially incomplete. One of his translations of Tagores poems, entitled "Unfinished Prayers," states:

The things in my life that Ive left behind,

My songs that remain unsung,

The thoughts that still remain unspoken,

I know, yes I do, they were not in vain.

The very last translation of a Tagore poem that Kar penned included thoughts on death as a form of spiritual reunion. That poem states:

At high noon, I stopped my chores

When I heard an alluring call from afar

Unsure of from whom or from where.

Let the spring blossoms paint my garden,

Let honeybees roam and hum their tunes.

I have spent my life on bookish debates

On what is real and what is not.

Now I hear my playmates call from afar

Pulling me away from my mundane chores,

And tempting me to a peaceful shore.

One of his favorite Tagore poems states: "There is grief. Death is also there. But beyond those there is always endless peace and tranquility."

Over his lifetime, Kar received many scholarships and fellowships for his work, including from the: Fulbright Commission, Kellogg International Fellowship in Health, Ford Foundation Population Communication Fellowship, East-West Center Population Fellowship, Delta Omega Honor Society in Public Health, Fellow of the Public Health Leadership Institutes (CDC/ Univ. of California), and elected fellow of three divisions of the American Psychological Association. He presented several invited keynote addresses in international scientific and professional conferences. The "Rescatando Salud" (Save Health) projectwhich empowered poor women for promoting childhood immunization in Latino communities and was directed by Kar and his colleagueswon the National Award for Excellence in Addressing Health Disparities in the US in 2001.

Kar was devoted to his family in both the US and India; to his many students; to his colleagues; to his teachers and mentors; and to his neighbors and friendsmany of whom he was able to acknowledge in his writings.

Kar was cremated on December 23 at 10:13 am Central Time. Services will be held in Jadavpur, India, on December 26th at 10 am India Standard Time; and in Champaign, IL, on December 28th at the Sunset Home & Cremation Center, 710 N. Neil St. Champaign, Illinois 61820, from 5-6 Central Time (Visitation) and 6-7 Central Time (Services). The latter services (from 6-7) can be attended via zoom, with a meeting ID of 894 9190 8081 and a password of 057237.

Please join his family in sharing memories, photos and videos on his tribute wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com

Services Memorial Visitation Tuesday December 28, 2021 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM Sunset Funeral Home & Cremation Center Champaign-Urbana Chapel 710 N. Neil Street Champaign, , IL 61820 Memorial Service Tuesday December 28, 2021 6:00 PM Sunset Funeral Home & Cremation Center Champaign-Urbana Chapel 710 N. Neil Street Champaign, , IL 61820