Posted 05/10/2007

Webster, Irwin are recipients of 2007 Norman J.
and Gerry Sue Arnold alumni awards

A University of South Carolina graduate who has spent his career in the battle against heart disease and another who has focused on cancer prevention are the recipients of the 2007 Norman J. and Gerry Sue Arnold alumni awards. 

The Norman J. Arnold Medal was presented to Dr. William A. Webster who earned his master's degree in exercise science from USC in 1973.  

He has worked for 28 years at the Greenville (S.C.) Hospital System University Medical Center where he is director of clinical cardiology research.  

The Gerry Sue Arnold Award was presented to Dr. Melinda L. Irwin, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale University School of Public Health. 

A researcher interested in physical activity, obesity, and breast cancer prevention and prognosis, she received her doctorate from USC in 1999. 

The Arnold awards, named after the school's leading benefactor and his wife, were presented during school’s 20th Annual Hooding Ceremony on May 10 at the Koger Center for the Arts. 

Webster has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from The Citadel and a doctorate in exercise physiology from Florida State University. 

He joined the Greenville Hospital System in 1978 as director of cardiac rehabilitation. Later he was director of the hospital’s Heartlife Program, the first and oldest cardiac rehabilitation program in the state and one of the largest programs of its kind in the nation.  

Webster worked to organize and develop guidelines for comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation programming in South Carolina.  Twenty-six years ago there were two cardiac rehabilitation programs in the state. Today there are approximately 40. 

He is a fellow of both the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Association of Cardiovascular Pulmonary Rehabilitation, serving on the executive board of both organizations and as chair of various committees of each. 

Irwin currently is working on two studies examining the effect of exercise on biological markers of breast cancer among survivors. 

If these studies, and others, demonstrate that exercise can significantly improve disease-free survival, exercise could be prescribed as an integral part of breast cancer therapy, and could possibly even replace toxic and costly treatments among those women for whom chemotherapy is not very beneficial. 

Irwin is involved in other National Cancer Institute studies on associations between exercise and cancer. She has participated in National Institutes of Health review groups focused on physical activity, obesity and cancer.  

She also has published more than 40 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals on the effect of exercise on breast cancer biomarkers, adherence to exercise in randomized trials, and physical activity and body composition issues. 

Irwin has a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, a master’s from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She also has a master’s in public health from the University of Washington. 

The Norman J. Arnold Medal honors an alumnus who graduated more than 10 years ago. It carries a cash award of $5,400 and a bronze medal. 

The Gerry Sue Arnold Medal honors an alumnus who graduated within the last 10 years. It carries a cash award of $3,600 and a commemorative plaque. 

Webster and Irwin were selected by a committee of the Arnold School's Alumni Council from among nominees submitted by faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the Arnold School of Public Health. 

The alumni awards are the latest example of the Arnold family’s philanthropy. Norman Arnold made a major gift in 2000 to endow the University of South Carolina's School of Public Health, which now bears his name.