NSF International (NSF) and the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) honored John B. Conway, PhD, with the 2005 Walter F. Snyder award. The award was presented at NEHA’s 69th Annual Educational Conference and Exhibit in Providence, R.I. on June 26th.
The annual award, given in honor of NSF's co-founder and first executive director, recognizes outstanding contributions to public health and the environment. It also recognizes a recipient’s special orientation toward cooperation and collaboration as a way to achieve a consensus-based resolution to complex problems and issues.
Over his 40-year career in environmental and public health, Dr. Conway has earned the respect of professionals in many state and local government administrations as well as academic institutions. He is a former chair of the State of Washington Board of Health and has worked for the State of Wisconsin and for local health departments in California and Ohio.
Dr. Conway has been involved with projects, both nationally and abroad, ranging from environmental health in correctional institutions to the development of environmental and public health curricula for sanitarians. A registered sanitarian for over 40 years, he has published and co-authored many scientific publications on public health and the environment. Dr. Conway’s major research interests include human health risk factors associated with deteriorating water quality, disaster preparedness and emergency response measures and risk factors associated with contaminated food supplies.
Dr. Conway has also served as the Dean of the College of Health Sciences and professor in the Health Sciences Program at the University of Texas at El Paso. Prior to this, he served as the Interim Dean, director of the Professional Education Program and as a professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Toxicology at the School of Public Health at the University at Albany. He received his PhD in environmental biology from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in public health also from the University of Minnesota, and a master’s degree in biology from San Diego State University.
“I have known Jack for many years, and he is so deserving of this award. He is a role model for environmental health professionals everywhere,” said NEHA Executive Director Nelson Fabian.
As a member of NEHA since 1965 and a member of the American Public Health Association since 1979, Dr. Conway has served on numerous committees focused on improving public health. He has also participated on NSF’s Joint Committee on Drinking Water Treatment Units and NSF’s Council of Public Health Consultants.
“I congratulate Jack on receiving this highly esteemed award, because it represents the commitment of a leader who has truly devoted his life to public and environmental health,” said NSF President and CEO Kevan P. Lawlor. “Jack joins an exclusive group of more than 30 of the world’s leading public health professionals who have received this prestigious award since 1971.”
Source: NSF International