Lawrence Green MPH ’66, DrPH ’68, DSc (Hon.) will receive the 2016 Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health from the American Public Health Association (APHA) on November 1 at the APHA’s Annual Meeting and Expo in Denver. Green, currently a retired professor at the UCSF School of Medicine, is being honored for devoting his career to the bridging of theory and research to planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs and policies in public health.
The Sedgwick Memorial Medal, APHA’s oldest and most prestigious award, was established in honor of the late Professor William Thompson Sedgwick and was first awarded by APHA for distinguished service and advancement of public health knowledge and practice in 1929. The Sedgwick award is a true accolade of the profession—the recognition by an individual’s colleagues of outstanding accomplishments in the field of public health.
Green received all three of his public health degrees from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health: 1962 (BS), 1966 (MPH), and 1968 (DrPH). Between getting his bachelor’s and master’s, he worked as a student professional assistant at the California State Health Department and Contra Costa County Health Department. Following his DrPH, he was a lecturer and coordinator of the UC Berkeley DrPH program from 1968-70, during which time he received recognition for Outstanding Teaching by the Graduate Student Council. Since then, Green has been on the full-time public health and/or medical faculties at UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Texas, and the University of British Columbia.
Green served as director of the Office of Science and Extramural Research and director of the CDC/WHO Collaborating Center for Global Tobacco Control before joining UCSF in 2005. He was the first Director of the federal Office of Health Promotion under the Carter Administration, and a Vice President of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. He has published several books and over 300 articles on program planning, evidence and evaluation issues in health services, health promotion, and public health. He served on the founding U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and now erves on the Community Preventive Services Task Force. In 1994, he was awarded the UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s Alumnus of the Year Award.
APHA also announced the 2016 winners of its 10 other prestigious national awards, which recognize individuals for leadership, innovation, and excellence in the field.
“These esteemed leaders have made remarkable contributions to the field of public health and to the health of this nation,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of APHA. “We are honored by their commitment and indebted for their service. We celebrate their accomplishments in helping create the healthiest nation.”