Nominations are now open for the annual GPHA Section Awards and the Sellers-McCroan Award. These awards are a great way to recognize your coworkers for their contributions to public health.

Click the button below to access the nomination form for all award categories:

The deadline to submit a nomination is March 27, 2026.

More About the Awards

Sellers-McCroan Award
The Sellers-McCroan Award from the Georgia Public Health Association recognizes an individual or group whose work has had significant impact on epidemiology and/or laboratory services at the state, district or county levels; in academia; or in hospitals. Learn more about the history of the Sellers-McCroan Award.

Al Dohany Award for Outstanding Community Service
Established in 1999, the Al Dohany Award for Community Service honors public health leader, Al Dohany, who was highly respected among his peers and who made great contributions to the promotion of public health through his work with family connection and community groups at the local level. This award is presented annually to an individual who has made a positive contribution to community health through collaboration with the community and its leaders. This contribution involves encouraging a collaborative approach with existing community entities that is essential to realizing the long-term health outcomes of a community while recognizing the importance of communities and celebrating the diversity that makes a community vital.

Jules S. Terry Memorial Award
The Jules S. Terry Memorial Award was established to recognize an individual whose work has contributed to broaden the provision of health services to individuals. Dr. Terry’s request was that the award not be related to position or discipline, but open to all.

Environmental Health Specialist of the Year
The Environmental Health Specialist of the Year Award is an Environmental Health Section Award to recognize outstanding achievement and service in the field of Environmental Health.

Early Career Environmental Health Specialist of the Year
The Early Career Environmental Health Specialist of the Year Award is to recognize individuals who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and contributions to the field of Environmental Health in the early stages of their career.

Environmental Health Innovations Award
The Environmental Health Innovations Award is to recognize individuals or teams that have made an innovative contribution to improving the environment and/or protecting public health and to encourage other professionals to search for creative solutions.

Fred Agel Governance Award
The Fred Agel Governance Award is a Boards of Health Section award to recognize outstanding commitment and service in the promotion of public health.

GA Dental Award of Merit
Initiated in 1989, the Georgia Dental Public Health Award is presented to an individual or organization by the Georgia Department of Public Health Oral Health Section and the Georgia Public Health Association Medical-Dental Section for outstanding services and contributions to the Georgia Dental Public Health Program nationally, regionally, statewide, and/or locally.

Stancliff Boone Communicable Disease Specialist Award
The Stancliff Boone Communicable Disease Specialist Award is an annual award for outstanding contributions to the critical work done by communicable disease specialists. This award recognizes one communicable disease specialist for contributions that resulted in positive disease intervention activities within the state of Georgia. This award is named to honor both Janet Stancliff, who worked efficiently and effectively to promote the collection of critical data by epidemiologists statewide for the state STD office, and Ronald Boone, who worked as a communicable disease specialist for the North Central Health District in Macon, GA for 25 years and was an active member of the Epidemiology Section of the Georgia Public Health Association throughout his tenure with public health.

Applied Epidemiologist of the Year Award
The Applied Epidemiologist of the Year is an annual award for outstanding contributions to the field of applied epidemiology. This award recognizes one applied epidemiologist each year for contributions that resulted in translating epidemiologic evidence to clinical, public health, or health policy applications within the state of Georgia.

Kathy Miner Health Education and Promotion Award
The Kathy Miner Award was established to recognize outstanding achievements in the area of health education and promotion.

Larry W. Miller Health Info Specialist Award
The Health Information Specialist of the Year Award began in 1998 and is presented to a member of the Information Technology Section. The Health Information Specialist of the Year Award was established to recognize individuals for their professional contributions to managing, analyzing, producing, and communicating health information.

Barfield Nursing Section Award
The Barfield Nursing Section Award was initiated by the Nursing Section of the Georgia Public Health Association in 1983 to honor Dorothy Barfield. Ms. Barfied was a lifelong learner who rose up the ranks in the nursing profession, eventually serving as chief nurse at the state level. The purpose of this award is to recognize written works, presentations, or projects, including research, that promote public health by contributing to public health issues, programs, evidence,and philosophies.

Lillian D. Wald Public Health Nursing Award
The Lillian D. Wald Public Health Nursing Award honors the memory of Lillian Walk, the founder of American Community Nursing. She was known as an advocate for the poor and a human rights activist who founded the Henry Street Settlement in New York City in 1893, which changed the model for public health care delivery in New York. She advocated for nurses in public schools and coined the term “public health nurse” to describe nurses whose work is integrated into the public community. The purpose of this award is to recognize demonstrated initiative and resourcefulness in developing efforts to improve the health of the public through advocacy by way of political, legislative, professional, or interdisciplinary collaboration.

Maggie Kline Nursing Award
The Maggie Kline Nursing Award was established in 1989 to honor Maggie Kline who, for several years, coordinated the continuing education program for public health nurses in Georgia. Maggie was committed to ensuring that nurses were provided ongoing education and training to utilize best practices in their delivery of services to clients and to develop the associated skills necessary to do so. This award is specifically designed to recognize a new comer to public health nursing who demonstrates: excellence in the execution of public health programs or services, creative or innovative approaches to practices that results in improved utilization of public health programs and services, and exemplary nursing practice that employs the use of individual and population-based care.

Ruth B. Freeman Nursing Award for Population Health
The Ruth B. Freeman award was established to honor Ruth B. Freeman, who provided standards for the nursing profession, standardized nursing practice, and advocated for the further education and educational equality of nurses by insisting that nurses have the same status and curriculum as physicians and other professionals in public health degree programs. In doing so, Ruth B. Freeman contributed to the legitimization of nurses as equitable members of the healthcare team.

Administration Outstanding Service Award
The Administrative Section Outstanding Service Award was first given in 2013. This award is presented to someone who has demonstrated exceptional public service by enhancing the fiscal and administrative areas in support of providing public health services to the community.

Rosemarie B. Newman Nutrition Extra Mile Award
The Rosemarie B. Newman Nutrition Extra Mile Award was established to recognize outstanding achievements in the area of nutrition.

J. Patrick O’Neal Safety and Health Preparedness Section Award
The J. Patrick O’Neal Georgia Public Health Association Safety and Health Preparedness Section Award was established in 2018 in honor of Dr. J. Patrick O’Neal who serves as Commissioner and Director for Health Protection at the Georgia Department of Public Health where he has oversight responsibility for emergency medical services, trauma, emergency preparedness, epidemiology, infections disease, immunizations, and environmental health. The annual award is to be presented to an individual who has contributed to the work of emergency preparedness and response to recognize outstanding commitment and service in the promotion of public health safety and preparedness.

Nutrition Outstanding Leadership Award
The Nutrition Outstanding Leadership Award seeks to distinguish nutrition support staff who have consistently shown dedication to their work and have supported others with guidance and a positive attitude. The Outstanding leadership Award focuses on one individual whose contributions have helped promote growth within their program by continuously demonstrating leadership skills. The award also aims to bring attention to individuals whose work often goes without recognition yet enhances the program’s achievement.

The Academic Section Award
The Academic Section Award will be awarded to a GPHA member who has shown an outstanding commitment to uniting and supporting both the public health practice and academic communities in the state of Georgia. This award recognizes one GPHA member who has worked to bridge the gap between practice and academia through committee work, relationship building, and/or contributing to the scientific literature. The awardee must be in good standing with GPHA.

Communications Excellence Award
The Communications Excellence Award was created by the Communications Section to recognize an individual who has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to using innovative, effective ways to disseminate public health information.