A shared calling: How the Bhojanis strengthen public health education

For Faiyaz Bhojani, MD, DrPH, '99 and Maribel Mariam Bhojani, DNP, RN, serving others is a way of life deeply integrated with their careers.

Faiyaz Bhojani started his journey as a medical resident interested in cardiology, but a mentor urged him to consider occupational and environmental health. The field examines how work and everyday environments affect health—and how risks can be prevented.

“He told me it would challenge me in a unique way,” says Bhojani, who serves as Professor and Executive in Residence at the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. “It requires strong clinical skills, technical thinking, and leadership and management at the same time.”

In pursuit of this new direction, Bhojani came to the School of Public Health for his master’s degree and doctorate. There, Marcus Key, MD—the mentor who first encouraged him to consider occupational and environmental health—proved pivotal. A Professor Emeritus and the first Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Educational Research Center at the School of Public Health, Key helped shape Bhojani’s academic direction and confidence, even inviting Bhojani to his home—an act that left a lasting impression.

“He spared no time and no effort,” Bhojani says.

After completing his doctorate, Bhojani built a decades-long career spanning academia, clinical practice, and global corporate leadership, including senior medical roles at ExxonMobil Corporation and Shell. All the while, he remained closely tied to the School of Public Health, crediting the faculty with shaping not only his education but his outlook.

“The school is nothing without its faculty,” Bhojani says. “They helped me through my education, my journey, and my career.”

That sense of gratitude was shared by his wife, Maribel Mariam Bhojani, whose career in health care was shaped by service, mentorship, and compassion. In the 1980s, she served as head nurse of a newly opened HIV unit at a time when fear and stigma surrounded both patients and providers alike.

“Nobody wanted to work with people with HIV then,” she says. “Even some friends wouldn’t let me hug their children because I had been caring for HIV patients.”

Despite the isolation she faced, Maribel remained steadfast. That experience deepened her belief in compassion, courage, and a responsibility toward others.

Together, the Bhojanis established the Drs. Faiyaz Ali and Mariam Maribel Bhojani Visiting Scholars Endowment Lecture Series. The endowment reflects their belief that exposure to ideas—and people—can change careers and institutions.

“For a long time, the South struggled to match the academic reputation of other regions,” Bhojani says. “But when scholars come here, they see all that the university and the Houston community have to offer.”

Each year, the lecture series invites a nationally or  internationally recognized scholar to spend several days at the School of Public Health. Beyond delivering public lectures, visitors meet with faculty, students, and postdoctoral fellows, exchanging ideas and offering guidance. Bhojani believes these experiences help build lasting relationships and turn visiting scholars into ambassadors for the school and the city—creating rare opportunities for students and early-career faculty to connect with mentors and new ideas.

“Those scholars go back and tell others, ‘I was in Houston, and it was really good,’” he says. “That starts conversations that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

For the Bhojanis, the lecture series is not just a gift—it is a living expression of those values, extending the mentorship, curiosity, and courage that shaped their lives.

“Giving back what has been given to us is a wonderful way of doing things,” Maribel says. “We are grateful, and it is truly a humbling experience to be able to share what we have received.”