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Alumni recognized as public health leaders
May 12, 2011
Norman J. Arnold presents Dr. Peter B. Key with the 2011 Norman J. Arnold Medal.
Forrest L. Alton, right, receives the Gerry Sue Arnold Medal from Mrs. Arnold.
Two Arnold School alumni whose work has drawn national attention – one in the field of environmental research and the other in teen pregnancy prevention -- are the recipients of the 2011 Norman J. and Gerry Sue Arnold alumni awards.
The awards were presented Thursday, May 5, at the school's 24th annual Hooding Ceremony at the Koger Center for the Arts.
- The Norman J. Arnold Medal went to Dr. Peter B. Key, head of the Toxicology Program in the Estuaries and Land Use Branch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research in Charleston.
- The Gerry Sue Arnold Award went to Forrest L Alton, CEO of the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
The awards, established by the school's leading patron and his wife, are an annual feature of the Hooding Ceremony.
Key's work includes the development of research projects to identify, predict and mitigate the impacts of chemical contaminants in the coastal ecosystems. He participates in the training of numerous graduate and undergraduate students at USC and other academic institutions.
Key received the 2010 NOAA Bronze Medal for his research with Emerging Contaminants of Concern, which is the highest honor that can be granted by the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.
The Norman J. Arnold Medal honors an alumnus who has demonstrated work that has had both a positive impact on the profession and on the health of an identified community or population and has brought recognition to the Arnold School. It carries a cash award of $2,500 and a bronze medal.
Alton's dedication to the prevention of teen pregnancy has resulted in the award of $15 million in funding in 2010 by the Office of Adolescent Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This year, Alton was accepted into the prestigious Dick Riley Leadership Institute.
Nationally, Alton is on the Board of Directors of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies and also is on the advisory panel of the Office of Adolescent Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Gerry Sue Arnold Medal honors an alumnus whose work has both made a difference to the profession and in the health of an identified community or population. It carries a cash award of $2,500 and a commemorative plaque.
Key and Alton were selected by a committee of the Arnold School's Alumni Council from among nominees submitted by faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the school.
The alumni awards are just one 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.
For more information about the organizations where Key and Alton work, go to:
Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research
South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
