Barry Levy Wins APHA’s Oldest and Most Prestigious Award, the Sedgwick Medal

Barry S. Levy, MD, MPH, a public health consultant and adjunct professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine, received the 2005 Sedgwick Memorial Medal today at the American Public Health Association’s 133 rd Annual Meeting & Exposition. The Sedgwick medal has been awarded every year since 1929 to an individual who has demonstrated a remarkable record of service while working to further public health practice and knowledge.

Levy’s distinguished career includes posts as an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he founded and directed the Occupational Health Program, a project director with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Carter Center and executive director of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

After graduating with honors from the Tufts College of Liberal Arts, Levy went on to earn a master’s in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health and a medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. His colleagues have praised his “extraordinary record of distinguished service” and the fact that Levy has devoted his entire career to the field of public health.

As APHA president in 1997, Levy visited all 50 states, spoke frequently on the future of public health and the public’s health needs and traveled to South Africa to present the APHA Presidential Citation to Nelson Mandela. Among his many acts of service to APHA, Levy chaired the Executive Board, the Action Board, the Nominating Committee, the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws, the Development Campaign Cabinet and the Occupational Health and Safety Section.

Levy has authored more than 150 papers and book chapters and co-edited 12 books, including an occupational and environmental health textbook, the APHA handbook “Preventing Occupational Disease and Injury,” “War and Public Health,” “Terrorism and Public Health” and “Social Injustices in Public Health.” He co-wrote and performs in “Damaged Care,” a musical comedy about health care in America.

Levy has worked in more than 20 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Jamaica, China and Eastern Europe. His numerous awards include the U.S. Public Health Service Commendation Medal, the Duncan Clark Award of the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine, the Special Recognition Award of the American College of Preventive Medicine and the Harriet Hardy Award of the New England College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Founded in 1872, APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The association works to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats. APHA represents a broad array of health officials, educators, environmentalists, policy-makers and health providers at all levels working both within and outside governmental organizations and educational institutions. More information is available at www.apha.org.

Contact: Media Relations, (202) 777-2509
media.relations@apha.org