Adrian Dominguez Memorial Scholarship

Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to the scholarship through 

WSPHA Fiscal Sponsor – Angels For Angels 

Click "Dedicate This Gift” and note “In Memory of" Adrian

Read the Resolution Creating the Adrian Dominguez Memorial Scholarship

On Saturday, January 14th, Adrian Dominguez left his body for the next part of his journey through this universe. He was surrounded by his family and friends who loved him. He is leaving behind an incredible legacy and a high bar for the future of public health. His commitment to the work was inspiring to many of us who knew and worked with him.

He will be forever missed by all of us, and forever remembered through our continued efforts every day. Public health was critically important to him. For those of you fortunate enough to have worked with him, we know you will be forever changed by his passion, commitment, integrity, and of course, very high standard. He challenged us all to do our best work, that was one of the many gifts he gave to others so freely.  

He was incredibly sad that he would not be able to continue to contribute to the world of epidemiology and to impact change in how we approach equity and address racism. We at WSPHA promise to keep his memory alive through our work and we challenge you to do as he did, and never compromise your standards or ideals.

We are so incredibly grateful to Adrian for his service to WSPHA. He joined the Board in 2011, co-chaired the conference committee for many years, bringing education and community to public health in Washington. He also served as the 2021-22 WSPHA President where he was able to carry out his vision for public health to address racism. This vision resulted in our Resolution declaring Racism as a Public Health Crisis and the 2022 conference that was truly centered in equity, and included national speaker Heather McGhee.

Adrian was an amazing friend and colleague, a public health superhero who always had a plan. It is hard to imagine a future without Adrian in our circles.  Our time with Adrian and his incredible work was much too short. However, the coda of his life was punctuated by his passion and the level of commitment he felt to public health epidemiology, and the love he had for the people he served.  

Adrian spoke of the sadness he felt that he would not be able to continue when there was so much more work that had to be done.  This is the legacy that he leaves with us to carry on in our work in public health to serve the people, all the people, centered on addressing inequities and the systems that create them.

-JanMarie Ward, WSPHA President

A memorial service was held for him on March 18, 2023, at the Rainier Arts and Cultural Center in Seattle.

We are fortunate to have him forever in video and audio where he talks about his journey and passion for equity, data, and public health. Watch his 2021 WSPHA President acceptance speech or listen to his interview on the Public Health is Essential Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A note from Adrian to himself, and an inspiring message to us all.

Research and Reports

Odds Against Tomorrow: Health Inequities in Spokane County 2012

Pete D, Erickson SL, Jim MA, Hatcher SM, Echo-Hawk A, Dominguez AE. COVID-19 among non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska native people residing in urban areas before and after vaccine rollout—selected states and counties, United States, January 2020–October 2021. Am J Public Health. 2022;112(10): 1489–1497.