Northwestern Trustee Chris Combe and Family Make Gift to Northwestern Access to Health Project

Northwestern University trustee Chris Combe, his wife, Christina, and their family have generously committed $500,000 to support the Northwestern Access to Health Project at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. This commitment adds to the family’s 2019 and 2015 gifts that established the Michael and Mary Schuette Global Fellowship in Health and Human Rights and the Michael and Mary Schuette Clinical Fellowship in Health and Human Rights, and provided support for the Access to Health Project.

The Global Fellowship enables a Northwestern Pritzker Law graduate to pursue work in the area of human rights, global health and development, while the Clinical Fellowship supports a clinical fellow for the Access to Health Project. Founded and directed by clinical professor Juliet Sorensen, the Access to Health Project is a global, community-based initiative in which students and faculty from the Law School, the Feinberg School of Medicine, and the Kellogg School of Management work in interdisciplinary teams to conduct needs assessments and implement sustainable, capacity-building interventions from local to global.

“We are so grateful for the Combe’s impactful support of the Northwestern Access to Health Project,” Dean Hari Osofsky said. “Their generosity provides opportunities for the next generation of human rights leaders and makes a much needed difference in advancing human rights.”

The current Schuette Global Fellow, Reynolds Taylor (JD-MBA ‘21), is working at the Corporate Accountability Lab on a range of human rights and corporate social responsibility matters. Alex Tarzikhan, the current Schuette Clinical Fellow, has worked with Professor Sorensen and local partners around the world, including Nigeria, the Dominican Republic, and Somalia, engaging in capacity building and advocating for policy changes on a number of international human rights issues, as well as advocacy within the Inter-American System.

“We are so proud of the valuable social justice accomplishments of all the Schuette Global Fellows and the impact on health the Schuette Clinical Fellows are having with their cross functional teams all under Juliet’s incredible guidance and counseling thanks to her purposeful mentoring and passion,” Chris and Christina Combe said.

Mr. Combe (BA ’70) and his family have a long and deep association with the University. He has been a member of Northwestern’s Board of Trustees since 1997 and of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors since 1981. A number of Mr. Combe’s family members also have attended Northwestern, including his father, Ivan (BA ’33, JD ’36), and daughters Keech (BA ’99, MBA ’06) and Cameron (BA ’09).