We're excited to announce that our founder, Larry Cohen, has been named Honorary Fellow 2015 by the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE).
The Honorary Fellow is the highest SOPHE award granted to non-members who have made significant and lasting contributions to the field of health education and improving public health.
"Larry Cohen's drumbeat for cross-sector policies and programs that support safe, active, nutritious and tobacco-free environments stand out as a model and inspiration," says SOPHE President Kelly Bishop. "SOPHE is proud to honor Larry for his lifetime achievements in prevention that have transformed systems for lasting social change. For more than 40 years, Larry has been a champion for public health, prevention and social justice."
Larry founded Prevention Institute in 1997 to help shape the way that the country thinks about health in the first place and to serve as the national focal point for prevention. From the initial efforts decades ago that highlighted the role of industry, government and community environments in shaping eating and activity behavior to advancing a public health understanding of the prevention of violence, Larry has long worked at the cutting edge of prevention practice. Today, working alongside his colleagues, a few recent examples of Larry's leadership in action include, amongst many other things:
- A new model and approach for transforming the health system-the Community-Centered Health Home- that aligns healthcare, public health and prevention
- A vision for ‘Closing the Loop' to generate and capture sustained investments in community level prevention
- A systematic approach for collaboration across sectors, Collaboration Multiplier, most recently applied to the prevention of violence
In response to this announcement, Larry notes, "I'm deeply appreciative to SOPHE for this honor. As in many cases, though the recognition comes to me, it's clearly a tribute to all Prevention Institute staff. As much as ever, prevention is critically needed. We have the elements in place for success-with increased will and investment we can prevent tragic losses and suffering (not to mention save money)."
Prevention Institute staff want to express our gratitude to SOPHE for recognizing Larry's lifetime contributions to and leadership in public health and prevention and for making him part of such an illustrious list of past award winners, such as former U.S. Surgeons General David Satcher and C. Everett Koop; Howard Koh, former Assistant Secretary for Health; Helene Gayle, CEO of CARE International; Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President and CEO; and Gail Christopher, W.K. Kellogg Foundation Vice President.
The SOPHE 2015 Honorary Fellow Award will be presented in conjunction with Larry's keynote address at the Society's 66th Annual Meeting, April 22-25, 2015 in Portland, Oregon.