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Each year, the University of South Florida College of Public Health awards a woman in Florida — not just any woman, but one who has made great achievements in the field of public health through their leadership.
This year, FAMU’s Institute of Public Health Associate Dean and Director Cynthia M. Harris was named the 2022 Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health.
Dr. Harris was nominated for the award by Dr. Deanna Wathington, executive dean of the Petrock College of Health Sciences and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Bethune-Cookman University.
“I was surprised, but certainly honored,” Harris said. “Because of my passion for public health, and especially in this day and time, it was something that really allows me to utilize this public health platform to ensure that all Floridians — in particular, the poor and underserved — are provided the attention and services that they need.”
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This isn’t the first time Harris has been recognized for her work. Last year, the Tallahassee Democrat named Harris 2021 Person of the Year as a FAMU COVID testing site worker along with FAMU’s Director of Student Health Services Tanya Tatum.
Harris is also the recipient of several public health service and academic awards, including two distinguished alumnus awards from Meharry Medical College as well as the Black Innovators Award from the University of Kansas’s Black Alumni Association.
“Without question, Dr. Harris is most deserving of this honor,” FAMU President Larry Robinson said. “We both go back more than 25 years at Florida A&M University, and she’s been a role model of mine all the way along.”
Harris’s leadership led to the establishment of the testing site in less than a week’s time, according to Robinson.
At the start of the initiative, they were only allowed a maximum capacity of 200 tests a day. Significant progress has been made as the site tested over 628,000 people since since April 25, 2019. Now, the site also has a vaccination component where nearly 25,000 vaccines have been administered since February 2021 with the help of Harris and other workers.
“This is the wonderful thing about public health,” Harris said, “You never know when you are called to serve at a higher level.”
Harris’s accomplishments during the pandemic are just a few indicators of why she was chosen for the award. Throughout her expertise in the field, she led FAMU’s public health program through its inaugural accreditation in 2000 and three successive re-accreditation cycles after.
More than 70 local organizations and agencies received mini-grant funding to sustain their health and wellness initiatives to combat obesity in children under Harris’s leadership. Harris also has more than 10 years of experience addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health professions.
“Public health matters, and we are honored to have a public health superstar at FAMU,” Robinson said.
On April 6, USF held the National Public Health Week Awards Ceremony where Harris was honored along with recipients who were awarded for Excellence in Teaching, Outstanding Alumni and Student Achievement.
“I accept this award on behalf of all of FAMU, all faculty and staff, our students and our alumni,” Harris said, “but also on behalf of the communities that have supported us through these many years and the communities that are still in much need for public health support and services.”
Contact Tarah Jean at [email protected] or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Cynthia Harris is awarded Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health
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