Posted 5/25/2006

Arnold Awards Presented to Butterfoss, Houston

Two graduates of the Arnold School of Public Health are the recipients of outstanding achievement awards presented by the school’s leading benefactor and his wife.

The Norman J. Arnold Alumni Award was presented to Frances Butterfoss who received her doctorate from the Arnold School of Public Health in 1993. She currently is a professor of pediatrics in the Eastern Virginia Medical School Center for Pediatrics Research.

The Gerry Sue Arnold Medal was presented to Todd Houston, executive director of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. He received his doctorate from the Arnold School of Public Health in 1999.

The awards were presented the during school’s 2006 Hooding Ceremony on May 6 in the Koger Center.

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.

Houston and Butterfoss 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.

Butterfoss has an undergraduate degree in nursing and a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

A resident of Yorktown, Va., she has been widely recognized for her work in helping develop community organizations to address local health issues. One is the Consortium for Infant and Child Health (CINCH) which supports improved immunization rates in Southeast Virginia.

In 1995, Butterfoss expanded the CINCH model into Project Immunize Virginia, which included the entire commonwealth and persons of all ages.

Houston, who has headed the AG Bell Association since 2002, has a master of speech-language pathology and a bachelor’s degree in journalism & mass communication from USC.

He has focused his career on helping deaf and hearing impaired persons. As a student, he established a Speech and Hearing Center at the Arnold School of Public Health.

At AG Bell he is responsible for an organization that has become, according to its website, “. . . a lifelong resource, support network and advocate for listening, learning, talking and living independently with hearing loss.”

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.