Stanton Glantz
The American Legacy Foundation, a national public health foundation dedicated to reducing tobacco use in the United States, has announced a gift to UCSF to honor Stanton Glantz with a new distinguished professorship in tobacco control.
A lifelong anti-tobacco champion, Glantz, PhD, professor of medicine at UCSF, has conducted seminal research linking secondhand smoke to heart disease and demonstrating that large-scale tobacco control programs not only reduce smoking, but immediately save lives.
Glantz is the first recipient of the American Legacy Foundation Distinguished Professorship in Tobacco Control for the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF. Glantz is director of the center.
Often described as the "Ralph Nader of the anti-tobacco movement," he is a widely respected scientist and advocate of tobacco control. From smoking in movies to secondhand smoke to the grave conflicts presented by universities' acceptance of tobacco funding for research, Glantz's high-quality research, combined with his savvy and unwavering focus, has earned him both admiration and respect.
"Professor Glantz's academic work has had enormous impact on public policy because he has attempted to answer difficult questions about tobacco-related diseases and how to prevent them," said David A. Kessler, MD, JD, dean of the School of Medicine at UCSF. "We are proud that he is on the UCSF faculty and appreciate the American Legacy Foundation's recognition of his work."
Both professionally and personally, Glantz has worked on several fronts for more than 30 years to protect and inform the nation of the deadly product. Currently, as head of the national advocacy program Smoke Free Movies, Glantz has worked aggressively to raise awareness about the negative impact that smoking scenes in movies have on youths, making the topic a priority on public health, political and media agendas.
In part, as a result of concerted efforts led by Glantz over the past few years, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) finally took a tentative first step in responding to mounting pressure and recently announced that smoking in a film will be "considered" in future movie ratings. He has earned the support of national health partners, including the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization and others.
The chair will be renamed the Stanton Glantz Distinguished Professorship in Tobacco Control upon his retirement.
Elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2005, Glantz has received numerous honors and awards, including the Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award, the American Public Health Association's Lifetime Achievement Award and the UCSF Chancellor's Award for Public Service. He joined the UCSF faculty in 1977.
Related Links:
Smoke Free Movies
Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF
