About the Awards
Harriet Hylton Barr Distinguished Alumni Award
Harriet Hylton Barr
Established in 1975, the Harriet Hylton Barr Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes the achievements of alumni and their contributions to public health. Each year, it honors a deserving graduate of the School working full-time in public health or in a related field.
The award carries the name of its 1980 recipient, the late Harriet Hylton Barr, to honor her contributions to public health. Barr, who earned her MPH from UNC in 1948, dedicated 28 years of service to the School. She was a clinical associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior and she was the School’s first director of alumni affairs. For a list of past recipients, and to read more about Harriett Hylton Barr, please visit the Barr Award page.
Bernard G. Greenberg Alumni Endowment Award
Bernard Greenberg
The Bernard G. Greenberg Alumni Endowment Award was established in 1986 by the School’s Alumni Association in honor of Bernard Greenberg, PhD, a visionary leader who founded the Department of Biostatistics in 1949 which he led for more than 20 years before going on to serve as dean of the School of Public Health from 1972-1982. The award is presented to an outstanding full-time faculty member of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health for excellence in the areas of teaching, research and service.
The major criterion for the award is continuous demonstrated excellence over a number of years in service to the broad public health community. The award is intended for a mid-career faculty member as an incentive for continued excellence in these three areas. The award includes a cash prize of $14,000 annually for three years. For additional information and a list of past recipients, please visit the Greenberg Award page.
2023 Awards
Leah McCall Devlin, DDS, and Jason West, PhD, were honored with the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s most prestigious awards for alumni and faculty. Read more.
The Barr Award
Dr. Leah Devlin
Leah McCall Devlin, DDS, is the 2023 recipient of the Harriet Hylton Barr Distinguished Alumni Award. She currently serves as professor of the practice in health policy and management at the Gillings School and has more than 30 years in public health practice in North Carolina. This includes 10 years as the Wake County Health Director and 10 years as the State Health Director for N.C. In addition to earning a Master of Public Health degree in health policy and administration from the Gillings School in 1984, she earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from UNC in 1985.
The Greenberg Award
Dr. Jason West
Jason West, PhD, received the 2023 Bernard G. Greenberg Alumni Endowment Award. West conducts interdisciplinary research addressing air pollution and climate change by using models of atmospheric chemistry and transport and tools for quantitative policy analysis. He is an international leader in the assessment of the global health effects of ground-level ozone and fine atmospheric particulate matter, including analyses that examine the impacts of climate change and energy policy.
