Howard Koh receives highest honor from American Public Health Association

Howard Koh

Howard Koh, professor of the practice of public health leadership at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and former Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has received the 2014 Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health—the highest honor given by the American Public Health Association. Koh received the award November 18, 2014 at the APHA’s annual meeting in New Orleans.

The Sedgwick Medal is named for the late William T. Sedgwick, who was president of APHA in 1915 and one of the three founders of HSPH when it launched in 1913 as the Harvard-M.I.T. School for Health Officers.

Also at the meeting, Koh was named one of the first four inductees into the Hall of Fame of the APHA’s Asian Pacific Islander Caucus (APIC), marking APIC’s 40th anniversary.

Koh also received recent honors for national leadership in promoting the new “80% by 18” colorectal cancer screening initiative, which aims to reach 80% of the population by 2018. For his efforts, Koh received the American College of Gastroenterology’s ACG President’s Special Recognition Award on October 18, 2014, and the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable’s Award for Distinguished National Leadership on November 21, 2014.

Koh is also receiving a National Leadership Award from the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America for his work to reduce the impact of tobacco use while serving as assistant secretary of health. Koh will receive the award in February 2015.