There are three generations of the Calderone family who were, and are, fellow professionals and cheerleaders for the work all of you do, and I am here today, on behalf of my family and my forebears, to thank each and every one of you. This year we are honoring Dr. Mary Travis Bassett, Commissioner of Health for New York City. Dr. Bassett heads up one of the best managed, most highly regarded, and most influential health departments in the world, and I am happy to admit that her place of work has always held a special place in my heart because, early in their careers, both of my public health physician parents worked on the lower east side for the New York City Health Department and, what is more, they were introduced to each other by the incomparable Dr. Leona Baumgartner, who would go on a few years later to become the first woman to serve as New York City’s Commissioner of Health. So I think I can say without equivocation and absolutely no possibility of contradiction that if it hadn’t been for the New York City Health Department I would not be here today! To introduce Dr. Basssett, and to join with me in presenting the Calderone Medal, it is now my very great pleasure to introduce a valued colleague, friend and public health pioneer in her own right, Dr. Linda Fried, Dean and DeLamar Professor of Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Linda heads up the Calderone Prize Selection Committee and her continued support and wise counsel down through the years has been of inestimable value to us all.
There are three generations of the Calderone family who were, and are, fellow professionals and cheerleaders for the work all of you do, and I am here today, on behalf of my family and my forebears, to thank each and every one of you. This year we are honoring Dr. Mary Travis Bassett, Commissioner of Health for New York City. Dr. Bassett heads up one of the best managed, most highly regarded, and most influential health departments in the world, and I am happy to admit that her place of work has always held a special place in my heart because, early in their careers, both of my public health physician parents worked on the lower east side for the New York City Health Department and, what is more, they were introduced to each other by the incomparable Dr. Leona Baumgartner, who would go on a few years later to become the first woman to serve as New York City’s Commissioner of Health. So I think I can say without equivocation and absolutely no possibility of contradiction that if it hadn’t been for the New York City Health Department I would not be here today! To introduce Dr. Basssett, and to join with me in presenting the Calderone Medal, it is now my very great pleasure to introduce a valued colleague, friend and public health pioneer in her own right, Dr. Linda Fried, Dean and DeLamar Professor of Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Linda heads up the Calderone Prize Selection Committee and her continued support and wise counsel down through the years has been of inestimable value to us all.
calderone_prize_introduction_2016.docx