Lifting Lives

The Alumni Award of Merit is the highest honor presented to an alumna/us of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Since 1992, we have recognized dozens of Harvard Chan School’s highly accomplished alumni with this honor.In 2011, three additional awards were established by the Harvard Chan School Alumni Association, recognizing achievements in various arenas of public health, and at various stages in public health careers. These are the Leadership Award in Public Health Practice, the Public Health Innovator Award, and the Emerging Public Health Professional Award.

Join us in celebrating our 2020 Alumni Award winners!

Read more about the 2020 Alumni Awardees

Kathleen Kahn, MBBCh, MPH ’88, PhD
Professor of Public Health and Head, Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Public and Population Health, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; Chief Scientist, MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt)
For her substantial contributions to population health research and policy translation, equitable community health in rural southern Africa, and public health education, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hereby awards Kathleen Kahn the 2020 ALUMNI AWARD OF MERIT

John Quelch, DBA ’77,  SM ’78, MBA
Leonard M. Miller University Professor and Vice Provost, University of Miami; Dean and Professor, Miami Herbert Business School; Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami School of Medicine
For his work building bridges between the worlds of business and public health, leveraging his positions in business school leadership to promote the integration of public health perspectives into corporate contexts, and his public service in roles that demonstrate a lifelong commitment to the health and safety of the public, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hereby awards John Quelch the 2020 ALUMNI AWARD OF MERIT

Judith Salerno, SM ’76, MD ’85
President, New York Academy of Medicine
For her passion for the advancement of science, her unparalleled leadership skills, her commitment to grow the next generation of public health leaders, and her dedication to the health of those who are not well-served, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hereby awards Judith Salerno the 2020 ALUMNI AWARD OF MERIT

Kent Woods, MA, MD, SM ’83
Emeritus Professor of Therapeutics , Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, U.K.
For improving and protecting public health through international leadership in health regulation and academic medical innovation, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hereby awards Kent Woods the 2020 ALUMNI AWARD OF MERIT

Kimberly Chang, MD, MPH ’15
Human Trafficking and Health Care Policy Fellow, Asian Health Services, Oakland, California; Family Physician
For her local, grassroots, and national policy leadership in addressing human trafficking through public health, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hereby awards Kimberly Chang the 2020 EMERGING PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONAL AWARD

Mandy Cohen, MPH ’04, MD
Secretary of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, State of North Carolina
For her passion for humane and inclusive policy, her unparalleled understanding of public health at scale, her unstinting dedication to health care quality, and her commitment to making public health vital and visible, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hereby awards Mandy Krauthamer Cohen the 2020 LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE AWARD

Zain Kassam, MD, MPH ’14
Chief Medical Officer, Finch Therapeutics
For working with urgency, collaboration, and conviction to fill treatment gaps and shift public health paradigms through pioneering science, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hereby awards Zain Kassam the 2020 PUBLIC HEALTH INNOVATOR AWARD