The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) has awarded the 2020 Walter S. Mangold Award, its premier honor, to Dr. Carolyn Hester Harvey, retired professor at Eastern Kentucky University.
The Walter S. Mangold Award recognizes and honors individuals for outstanding contributions to the advancement of the environmental health profession. It is the highest honor that the association can bestow on one of its members.
"Dr. Harvey embodies the values associated with Walter S. Mangold’s legacy," said the NEHA in a news release.
Documentation of Dr. Harvey’s achievements was compiled and submitted by the Kentucky Environmental Health Association (KYEHA) to a committee of judges, all prior winners themselves. The judges praised Dr. Harvey for advancing the knowledge base of environmental health practitioners in Kentucky and beyond through her work as an educator and a mentor.
“Dr. Carolyn Harvey dedicated her 50+ year career to promoting the field of environmental and occupational health science. From working in the industry to educating future EHS professionals, Dr. Harvey continued to highlight the importance of sanitarians to our communities. Through her involvement in NEHA, KYEHA, EHAC, and AEHAP she has mentored countless emerging professionals and has volunteered countless hours toward the improvement of our profession. The KYEHA Executive Board counts itself lucky to call Dr. Harvey a friend,” the Board said in a statement.
Dr. Harvey earned her Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry from East Tennessee State University (ETU). She holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health.
Upon earning her Ph.D., Dr. Harvey entered the field of environmental health as a Microbiologist/Shellfish Sanitarian with the Texas Department of Health in Galveston. Dr. Harvey remained in Texas for the next 29 years, working in a variety of environmental health areasincluding engineering, compliance, training, and consulting. Dr. Harvey began her career in academia as an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at East Tennessee State University. There she taught industrial hygiene, ventilation, solid/hazardous waste, and air pollution in both the undergraduate and graduate programs.
In 2001, she left ETU to join the faculty of the Department of Environmental Health Science & Medical Laboratory Science at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). At EKU, she directed the Master of Public Health Program from 2009 to 2014, held the rank of full professor, and became department chair. She taught graduate courses in ventilation, industrial hygiene, and toxicology in both the Environmental Health program and the MPH program. Dr. Harvey retired from active teaching at EKU on January 1, 2017.
The Walter S. Mangold Award is a highlight achievement for Dr. Harvey, who has already received several prestigious awards, published dozens of professional articles, and held leadership positions in multiple environmental health associations. Dr. Harvey has been a member of NEHA for almost 25 years, has served as a Technical Editor for the Journal of Environmental Health since 2011, and held the position of NEHA Board President from 2014-2015.
“As the 2020 Walter S. Mangold Award Committee Chair, I was so pleased to see a nomination submitted for Dr. Carolyn H. Harvey. Dr. Harvey has devoted more than 50 years of her life to the environmental health profession. Her professionalism, numerous individual achievements, contributions made toward improving our profession, her active involvement in NEHA and state associations, the professional positions she has held coupled with her education made her most worthy and deserving being recognized as this year’s Walter S. Mangold Award recipient,” said Craig A. Shepherd, RS/REHS, DAAS, MPH.