So many of our alumni, faculty, staff and advocates have given their time and expertise to provide services and support to so many communities – locally, nationally, and globally – and these annual awards highlight their dedication to public health and their exceptional service.
Every year the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the University of Arizona Alumni Association give awards to alumni, faculty, staff, and community advocates for outstanding service and leadership in the field of public health. Join us to celebrate our award winners and community advocates for their outstanding service and leadership in the field of public health during this past year. The awards will be presented at our MEZCOPH Homecoming Celebration: Honoring Our Public Health Alumni and Community Leaders event on October 27, 2022, that will be part of the Homecoming festivities at the University of Arizona from October 27-29, 2022.
To register for our Homecoming event, please visit: bit.ly/mezcoph-homecoming.
Alumni of the Year Award, 2022-2023
Julianna Reece
MD, MBA, MPH ‘96
Dr. Julianna Reece, MD, MBA, MPH, is a Board-Certified, Family Medicine physician with an MPH from the University of Arizona. She is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and who has spent her career focused on Public Health in various capacities. Dr. Reece has nearly 20 years of experience in direct Primary Care, the majority focused on American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) healthcare and currently serves as the Director of Healthy Tribes for the CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health. Healthy Tribes partners with AI/AN communities to provide innovative, culturally responsive programs aimed at promoting health, preventing disease, and strengthening cultural connections to improve health and wellness. This work focuses on health equity and Social Determinants of Health and includes epidemiology and surveillance; environmental and indigenous approaches; health care system interventions; qualitative and quantitative evaluation; and community programs linked to clinical services. Prior to this role she was the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Service (IHS) Chief Medical Officer as well as the Vice Chair of the Heroin, Opioids and Pain Efforts (HOPE) Committee, a national initiative through IHS.
About the award: The Alumni of the Year Award is given to the Zuckerman College of Public Health graduate who has bestowed honor on the college through significant contributions and accomplishments that embody the mission of the College. The award winner is recognized at Homecoming in a University-wide ceremony.
Honorary Alumnus Award, 2022-2023
Robert W. Vaughan
MD
Dr. Robert Vaughan is a well-respected anesthesiologist. He served as a professor and the head of both the University of Arizona and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has more than 30 years of community and academic practice, research, teaching, and management/administration in leading educational institutions across the United States, including UA, Dept. Anesthesiology and Operating Room Director, AZ Medical Center. Dr. Vaughan has over 170 original peer-reviewed publications in national and international journals and texts.
Dr. Vaughan’s business acumen is exemplary as he established and implemented seminars and continuing education courses for graduate and postgraduate medical education for more than 20 years. He has served in leadership positions in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations at the local, state, and national levels. Dr. Vaughan has served on and chaired national and international task forces and steering committees, managing politically charged dialogue with complex clinical and financial problem-solving agendas among physicians and non-physicians.
Dr. Vaughan holds a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Southern Methodist University and an M.D. from the University of Texas. His anesthesiology fellowship was from Harvard. Dr. Vaughan’s leadership, advocacy, teaching, and commitment to health are unmatched! He now enjoys retirement with his wife, Sue, and serving as his HOA President in Tucson, AZ.
About the award: The Honorary Alumnus/Alumna Award is given to non-alumni of the University of Arizona who have demonstrated continued interest in and exceptional loyalty and service to the university for 10 years or longer. Particular consideration is given to individuals who have responded to requests for service from the university.
Sidney S. Woods Alumni Service Award, 2022-2023
Marjorie Sue Vaughan
PhD '80, MSN, RN
Dr. Sue Vaughan’s impressive 30-year career in healthcare includes clinical care, teaching, research, administration, and consulting in leading academic and private institutions across the United States. Her impact includes clinical medical-surgical nursing, nursing instructor and hospital director of nursing, research associate in pharmacology and anesthesiology, and a clinical assistant professorship in OB/Gyn. She has published extensively in nursing and medical peer-reviewed journals and is a sought-after speaker around the globe.
Dr. Vaughan and her husband formed a partnership in 1986 for clinical research and consulting. Now retired from clinical practice, they continue this collaboration in Tucson. They help colleagues and students, especially the next generations of health caregivers. Dr. Sue Vaughan was in the initial class of three who graduated (1980) from the new Doctoral Nursing program at the University of Arizona established in 1976.
In 2014 the Vaughans established three endowed scholarships for graduate students at the University of Arizona. SueBob scholarships are offered in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, College of Science, and the W.A. Franke Honors College Honors College.
About the award: The Sidney S. Woods Alumni Service Award is given to an alumnus or alumna who has demonstrated unwavering interest in and loyalty to the University of Arizona for a minimum of 5 years. The award is given to an individual who has been out of school for more than 15 years. Particular consideration is given to alumni who have taken the initiative to serve effectively on behalf of UArizona and who have responded to requests for service from the university. The award honors the late Sidney S. Woods, a long-time loyal alumnus of the University of Arizona, who graduated in 1939. After a military career as a much decorated ace pilot in World War II, he became prominent in the field of agriculture and also was a member of the Arizona Board of Regents.
Global Achievement Award, 2022-2023
Angelo Ercia
PhD, MPH ‘09
Angelo Ericia, PhD, MPH, currently works with Evergreen Life, a digital health company in Manchester, England, that improve health and healthcare delivery in the United Kingdom through digital solutions. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area in California, Dr. Ercia earned his MPH at the University of Arizona then returned to the Bay Area to work in community health before he went on to earn his PhD in International Public Health Policy at the School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK where he studied the Affordable Care Act’s impact on patient coverage and access to care in Arizona, California, and Texas.He then pursued a post doctorate at the University of Manchester and studied how to optimally implement the use of electronic patient reported outcome measures in dialysis units, work developed his expertise in digital care solutions. He was recently accepted as a fellow in the Royal Society for Public Health, UK.
About the award: The Global Achievement Award recognizes alumni who have brought honor and credit to the University of Arizona and their profession in the global arena through professional achievement or humanitarian service.
Young Professional Achievement Award, 2022-2023
Mae N. Rouhani
BS ‘13, MPH ‘15, RYT
Mae Rouhani, MPH, currently serves as Deputy Director of Data and Operational Excellence at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Headquarters office in New York City, NY. She manages a team of 8 data product managers, program managers, and data scientists who support over 40 countries across 6 regions and over 30 US and European offices with data-driven decision making. Her team provides user-friendly data collection and visualization products, and those products are optimized through continuous improvement and action planning routines, where country programs select priority metrics, identify context appropriate targets, and develop actions to improve program delivery to our clients.In addition, Mae serves as the chair of IRC’s Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) Council's Metrics Committee, to help achieving organizational goals with DEI.Outside of IRC, Mae founded a brand known as Boos based on her background in wellness as a Registered Yoga Teacher with specialization in Prenatal and Trauma-Informed teaching techniques for the Middle-Eastern and North African community.
About the award: The Young Professional Achievement Award recognizes alumni age 40 and under who have attained prominence in their field.
Delta Omega Honorary Society Alumnae Award, 2022-2023
Ana Maria López
MD, MPH ’98
Dr. López is Professor and Interim-Chair, Medical Oncology and Professor, Integrative Medicine (ABOIM) & Nutritional Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Medical College and Director, Integrative Oncology and Associate Director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dr. López earned her AB in Philosophy (Haverford College) Bryn Mawr College and her MD from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. She completed her internal medicine residency, general medicine fellowship, hematology-oncology fellowship (Arizona Cancer Center); served as Chief Resident, Internal Medicine; earned a Master of Public Health focused on Health Policy and Administration; and was awarded a Cancer Prevention and Etiology Fellowship (T32, NCI) at the University of Arizona.
Upon, the completion of the T32, Dr. López joined the faculty of the UA College of Medicine and earned tenure and the academic rank of professor. She also served as medical director of the Women’s Health Initiative, founding medical director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program, and founding associate dean of outreach and multicultural affairs.
In 2015, Dr. López was recruited to the University of Utah Health Sciences, where she served as a professor of medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine, director of cancer health equity at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and associate vice president for health equity and inclusion at the University of Utah Health Sciences.
Dr. López is board-certified in medical oncology and integrative medicine. She is President Emeritus and Master of the American College of Physicians; member of the Education Council and Ethics Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; and member of the Steering Committee, Group on Women in Medicine and Science, Association of American Medical Colleges. Dr. López formerly served on the Board of the National Hispanic Medical Association and is past-Chair of the Cancer Health Equity Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
About the award: The Delta Omega Honorary Society Alumnae Award recognizes a member who has brought honor to MEZCOPH and their profession in the public health field through professional achievement or humanitarian service.
