Dixie Horning, executive director of UCSF's National Center of Excellence in Women's Health (CoE), has been awarded the Helen Rodriguez-Trias Social Justice Award.
Horning received the award at the California Public Health Association's annual meeting on March 7. She will receive the 2007 Chancellor's Award for the Advancement of Women at a ceremony at UCSF on March 26.
The award recognizes a person who has distinguished herself/himself professionally by working toward social justice for underserved and disadvantaged populations. Recipients are commended for improving the health and well-being of these populations through activities such as leading and mentoring.
This award is named after the late Helen Rodriguez-Trias, MD, past president of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and a pediatrician. Rodriguez-Trias was an inspiration and role model who strove to meet the needs of underserved and disadvantaged populations, especially women and children. Through her work and activism, she used social justice strategies that effect change for the better.
Horning's efforts to advance the careers of women and improve women's health far exceed her job responsibilities as executive director of UCSF's CoE. She has been invited to 20 of the other 22 national academic CoEs to consult, guide and mentor their development.
Horning also has worked with the National Community Centers of Excellence in Women's Health both individually and collectively, and has consulted with the network of National Rural/Frontier Women's Health Coordinating Centers. The cross-fertilization of ideas that has resulted from her efforts and travels has strengthened the power of this CoE model and women's health nationally.
Horning encourages individuals to grow and take on new roles that maximize their opportunities to advance their goals, and has been a valued mentor to high school and college students, staff and faculty.
She is a national and state leader in the field of wellness, health and leisure services. Among numerous accolades, Horning was named distinguished alumna from Texas A&M University in 2003.
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Dixie Horning, center, stands with Giorgio Piccagli, PhD, MPH, president of California Public Health Association-North, and Stephanie Bailey, MD, MS, from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
For the purpose of this award, social justice is intended to be seen in the context of improving the public's health and well-being through works that lead to the elimination of health disparities. These works empower disenfranchised communities toward making healthy changes and influence public policies toward a more equitable distribution of resources for those with little or none. Specific areas considered for this award are those that deal with cross-cultural communications, reproductive rights, women's health issues and providing access to health care.
Priority is given to a public health worker whose actions can be viewed as a model for what can be done to address inequities and injustices at national, state, and/or local levels of operations.
Related Links:
UCSF to Award Three for Advancing WomenUCSF Today Feb. 27, 2007
