Founding Dean Robert S. Gold Honored with President's Medal

Robert S. Gold, founding dean of the School of Public Health and professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health, is the recipient of the 2012 President's Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the University of Maryland community on a faculty or staff member. Dr. Gold received the honor at the 2012 Faculty and Staff Convocation on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 in the Memorial Chapel.

Dr. Gold became dean of the College of Health and Human Performance in 2002 and led the transformation of that college into the School of Public Health in 2007. As the school's founding dean, he inspired and facilitated the creation of major research initiatives in health equity, health literacy and disease prevention. Dr. Gold is recognized as an accomplished researcher and nationally known expert in the application of technology in health education and health promotion.

Dr. Robert S. Gold, founding dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Health, and UMD President Wallace Loh at the 2012 Faculty and Staff Convocation.

Another School of Public Health leader, Robin Sawyer, associate chair and associate professor, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, was also honored at the Faculty and Staff Convocation. Dr. Sawyer received the Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award in recognition for his innovation in curriculum development; his strong commitment to the education, mentoring and advising of undergraduate students; and to his leadership in developing widely-used educational materials (books, films, trainings) on a variety of topics related to human sexuality.

Dr. Robin Sawyer, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, with President Loh at the 2012 Faculty and Staff Convocation

The following are remarks given by Dr. Gold after receiving the President's Medal, bestowed by University of Maryland President Wallace Loh. 

Robert S. Gold Remarks in Acceptance of President’s Medal

Thank you President Loh for this award; and allow me to extend my congratulations to each of the award winners today. Let me share a story I’ve told before about the most impressive person I have known – Bill Foege. As some here know, he was one of the architects of the strategy to eradicate smallpox from the planet. He often said to those as fortunate as us here today how blessed we are. We are in the 99th percentile in the world in terms of what we’re able to do, and the kind of education we’ve been able to get. And to be exposed to the accumulation of knowledge that’s taken thousands of years to create.

He would say that our greatest debt in life is our debt to the society that has invested millions of dollars in our education; a society that has been preparing for generations for what we are now able to do.

Bill Foege would often say: We have the advantage of something called “Functional life expectancy.” Not how many years we will live, but in what we can do with each year. Science and technology have increased that so dramatically that:

• Many of us travel as much in a year as Marco Polo did in a lifetime.

• Many write as many words with a computer in a year as Shakespeare wrote in a lifetime.

But Foege warned not to confuse quality with quantity. His point – What could Shakespeare have done with a computer. Imagine what it took to write with a quill pen. Shakespeare didn’t run out of ideas – he ran out of time; an excuse no one here can yet claim. The real question is: What will we do with the steps we take; the miles we travel; and the words we write. We should stretch ourselves, fight for what we believe. It’s not about what we know, it’s about what we believe and do.

I always believe that the “best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.” My passion for ten years was to help create a school of public health at this great university, and in doing so to help redefine schools of public health for the 21st  century. To show that families, physical activity, and health disparities fed by racism, illiteracy and poverty – now known as social determinants of health, were as important to human population health as biology, genes, and biostatistics. It was not a novel idea – but an idea that had not yet been acted upon in a way that being at this university made possible. Now I’m pleased to say

there are half a dozen or more other universities with schools in the pipeline trying to replicate what we’ve accomplished here.

I’ve had the good fortune of being a dean here for 10 years. And in each of the convocations I attended I learned more about the quality of this university’s faculty, staff, and administrators based on hearing their acheivements which were lauded in this room. This is true of each awardee today and certainly those who have received this medal prior to my receiving it today.

Now in my first year post-deanship I have been given the great honor of receiving the President’s Medal and it is a humbling experience. It’s important to say how much fun these ten years have been. It was a great deal of work but it is also remarkable how energizing it was to come to work with the quality of people at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, each of the deans I’ve worked with, and the leaders of each and every administrative office in this university. Because in the end, progress on making great strides forward – such as creating a new school at this great university, is not an individual achievement but a monumental and collegial team effort.

School of Public Health colleagues celebrate success (l to r): Anne Anderson Sawyer, James Butler, III, SPH Dean Jane Clark, Robin Sawyer, Founding Dean Bob Gold, Stephen Thomas, Elbert Glover, Mary Garza

I received this award; yet almost every colleague in the audience, leader on this stage and person I’ve worked with over 10 years contributed to this effort. I had an idea that was nourished and fed by their energy and sweat equity, and driven by the love and support of my family, particularly my wife Barbara and our son HT and daughter Caitlin. And I want to thank those who nominated and supported me, the committee that reviewed all the nominations, and the President and his staff for their support. President Loh, you’ve honored all of these partners today too by giving this award to me, and I humbly accept and say thank you from all of us.