CEN Director Edward Bilsky speaks at the York County Senior College Lecture Series

On Wednesday, January 26, 2011, Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., gave a talk entitled “Woodrow Wilson and the Great Influenza Epidemic” as part of the York County Senior College Lecture Series. Dr. Bilsky, a professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine and director of the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, linked potential neurological effects of the influenza virus to the more general effects that it had on the United States and the World at the close of World War I. 

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed tens of millions of people worldwide. Beyond that immediate impact on human life, the pandemic also had profound and lasting effects on public health, medical education and biomedical research. Dr. Bilsky reviewed the connections between the influenza, the war efforts in the United States, and the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. The potential impact that the influenza had on Wilson’s negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles was also actively discussed with the participants. More than 45 seniors participated in the event that helped highlight the positive links between the University of New England and local Maine communities.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.