The W. W. Patty Distinguished Alumni Award is the oldest of the school’s distinguished alumni awards. It is presented annually to graduates of the School of Public Health-Bloomington or its prior incarnation as Health, Physical Education, and Recreation who have demonstrated outstanding personal and professional achievement in fostering the wide-ranging missions of public health that include but are not limited to evidence-based approaches to public health science, public health and healthcare systems, planning and management to promote health, policy in public health, leadership, communication, interprofessional practice, and systems thinking. The award is named in honor of Dr. Willard W. Patty, who served as the school’s first dean from 1946 to 1957. Under his leadership, the school rose to national stature and produced some of the finest professionals in the field of public health.
