The Loretta P. Lacey MCH Academic Leadership Award was created in 1990 and awarded annually through 2018. The originally termed ATMCH Leadership Award was establish to recognize leadership in MCH education, research, policy development and/or advocacy. The 1994 recipient of the award was Loretta P. Lacey, an Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences for the University of Illinois at Chicago. Loretta had been a public health nurse since 1967, serving in various capacities from field nurse to administrator. She joined the UIC faculty in 1985 and received a golden Apple award for excellence in teaching in 1989. A Chicago native and former City of Chicago Assistant Health Commissioner, Mrs. Lacey was a board member for Taproots, a non-profit human services agency providing care for low-income women and children on the West Side. She was also a member of the Executive Council of the Illinois Public Health Association and a member of a committee of the White House Health Care Task Force. The ATMCH Academic Leadership Award was renamed the Loretta P. Lacey MCH Academic Leadership Award, or “Lacey Award”, in 1995 after the death of Loretta Lacey at the age of 49.
All awardees:
- were faculty members, actively involved in MCH education, research, and/or practice;
- were ATMCH members;
- were at mid-career (not yet full professors) with established reputations in MCH; and
- demonstrated leadership skills & showed potential for future career development.
They were scored on the evidence contained in their nominations of their active involvement in MCH work; active involvement in MCH education, research and/or practice; and demonstration of leadership in MCH through education, research, or policy development.
- 2018. Lois McCloskey, Boston University
- 2017. Daniel Enquobahrie, University of Washington
- 2016. Krista Casazza, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- 2015. Michael Kramer, Emory University
- 2014. Diana Romero, Hunter College & CUNY School of Public Health
- 2012. Martha Wingate, University of Alabama Birmingham
- 2011. Karen McDonnell, George Washington University
- 2010. Carolyn Halpern, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- 2009. Nadine Peacock, University of Illinois at Chicago
- 2008. Michelle Issel, University of Illinois at Chicago
- 2007. Ellen Daley, University of South Florida
- 2006. Mary Barger, Boston University
- 2005. Colleen Huebner, University of Washington
- 2004. Wendy Hellerstedt, University of Minnesota
- 2003. Karen Perrin, University of South Florida
- 2002. Patricia O’Campo, Johns Hopkins University
- 2001. Donna Petersen, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- 2000. Edith Kieffer, University of Michigan
- 1999. Eugene Declercq, Boston University
- 1998. Trude Bennett, University of North Carolina
- 1997. Arden Handler, University of Illinois at Chicago
- 1996. Henry Ireys, Johns Hopkins University
- 1995. Sylvia Guendelman, University of California at Berkeley
- 1994. Loretta Lacey, University of Illinois at Chicago
- 1993. Jonathan Kotch, University of North Carolina
- 1992. Sally Horowitz, Yale University
- 1991. Greg Alexander, University of Minnesota
- 1990. Barbara Leonard, University of Minnesota
