New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to receive Richmond Award for promotion of public health in NYC and nation

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been named to receive the Harvard School of Health’s annual Julius B. Richmond Award for his extraordinary leadership in working to protect and promote the health of his city’s population. Bloomberg was cited by the school for a series of bold initiatives recognizing public health as a core municipal responsibility and opportunity.

In choosing Bloomberg to receive its highest award, the school noted that he operates at the level of
government where public health knowledge can be translated into
practices that directly affect entire communities. As New York City’s chief executive, Bloomberg has
utilized city regulatory authority and communications campaigns through
the City Health Department to mount highly visible and successful
efforts at both improving the health and safety of the environment in
which New Yorkers live and supporting community-based actions that
promote individual behavior change for healthier living. His public
health initiatives, in the world’s highest-profile city, have
emboldened public health efforts in other municipalities both here and
abroad.

Said Barry R. Bloom, Dean of the School of Public Health: “From
his position as mayor of one of the world’s greatest cities, Michael
Bloomberg has exhibited courageous leadership in championing and
implementing a series of public health initiatives that will have a
positive impact on millions of New York’s citizens’ lives. He is
demonstrating every day how public health knowledge and evidence can be
brought to his communities so that all may live their lives to the
fullest potential. He exemplifies the understanding that the health of
a city is related not only to its fiscal health but also to the health
of its citizens and their ability to contribute to the life of the
city.”

From restaurants to school yards to streets, Mayor Bloomberg has
impacted the health of millions of citizens with initiatives on issues
including tobacco use, gun violence and unhealthy fats. He has been
especially mindful of reducing the disparities in health status that
separate various communities in the five boroughs, creating the Take Care New York program to reduce preventable illness and death.

The Richmond Award recognizes those who carry forth the vision of
former U.S. Surgeon General and Harvard emeritus professor Julius B.
Richmond, who provided innovative leadership to protect vulnerable
populations, children, and all Americans. He issued the momentous
Report on Tobacco that changed U.S. policies, set targets for the
health of the American public with Healthy People 2000 and was the
first national director of the Head Start Program.

Among Mayor Bloomberg’s public health accomplishments:

• Led the successful ban of smoking in New York City bars and
restaurants, which along with high taxes on cigarettes, workplace
smoking limits and $10 million in anti-smoking TV ads, created the
sharpest drop in the number of smokers since record-keeping began in 1993

• In 2006 made New York the first city in the nation to ban dangerous trans fats in restaurant food

• Joined with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to create coalition of
mayors to keep illegal guns off the streets and press for repeal of
Tiahrt Amendment that restricts local law enforcement’s access to gun
tracking data.

• Created Opportunity NYC, the nation’s first ‘conditional
cash transfer’ program for children, adults and families living in
poverty. Privately-funded pilot programs award cash incentives to
individuals who meet conditions, such as school attendance, aimed at
improving education, health and workforce outcomes.

• Sharply increased demand for free condoms by branding them with
the official New York City logo, distributing 18 million to combat sexually
transmitted diseases including AIDS

Recently Bloomberg has made a commitment to create an
environmentally sustainable city by 2025, which puts him at the
forefront of efforts to curtail environmental pollutants that threaten
people’s health and the health of the planet. His efforts in this area
have included negotiations to introduce congestion pricing in New York,
which would reduce traffic by charging a fee to people who drive into
the busiest parts of Manhattan.

Mayor Bloomberg’s commitment to public health has extended from his
civic role to a personal philanthropic commitment to education and
research in public health, supporting the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health and a global initiative to fight tobacco use. A
native of Medford, MA., he received his undergraduate degree from Johns
Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is the
founder of Bloomberg L.P., the financial news and software service
company.

The Richmond Award recognizes those who carry forth the vision of
former U.S. Surgeon General and Harvard emeritus professor Julius B.
Richmond, who provided innovative leadership to protect vulnerable
populations, children, and all Americans. He issued the momentous
Report on Tobacco that changed U.S. policies, set targets for the
health of the American public with Healthy People 2000 and was the
first national director of the Head Start Program.

Past Recipients of the Julius B. Richmond Award include, among others, William H. Foege, former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; 
Dr. Marian Wright Edelman, Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund; Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and 
Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, Former U.S. Surgeon General.

Mayor Bloomberg and Dr. Julius B. Richmond will address the Harvard
community at a lecture and award ceremony sponsored by the HSPH
Division of Public Health Practice and the Office of the Dean, on
Monday, October 29, 4:30-6 p.m., at the Conference Center at Harvard
Medical, neighboring Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Members of the Harvard community wishing to attend will need to
RSVP to events@hsph.harvard.edu. This event is not
open to the public.