Entertainer Bill Cosby to Receive 2005 Porter Prize from University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
By Alan AldingerUPMS News Bureau
March 25, 2005
Famed entertainer, comic, actor, educator and social commentator
Bill Cosby, Ed.D., will be the 2005 recipient of the University
of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health’s (GSPH) prestigious
Porter Prize in recognition of exemplary performance in health promotion
when he speaks with students and parents from Pittsburgh’s Reizenstein
Middle School during GSPH’s “A Conversation with Bill Cosby” taking
place at 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 5.
Tickets for the event are available by invitation only to members of the Reizenstein community. However, the general public is invited to listen to the program during a live broadcast on Pittsburgh’s WAMO-AM (860 AM). Numerous other individuals, most from the Pittsburgh community, will also speak during the program.
Among the audience will be many of the seventh-grade students and their families who are participating in the GSPH and Pittsburgh Public Schools collaborative program “Healthy Class of 2010.” More than 3,000 middle school children are part of this multi-year effort to eliminate disparities in minority children’s health and academic achievement.
The Porter Prize presentation is part of GSPH’s commemoration of National Public Health Week, April 4-10. This year’s theme is “Empowering Americans to Live Stronger, Longer.” Emphasizing topics such as good nutrition and positive healthy behaviors, Dr. Cosby will use his educational background, comedic skills and passion for improving childrens’ lives to impress upon the audience the importance of healthy lifestyles.
Dr. Cosby was selected as the 2005 recipient of the Porter Prize in recognition of the health promotion messages he has shared with audiences over the years through his writings, television programs and stand-up comedy routines, as well as through community conversations in other cities across the nation, including Springfield, Mass. and Cleveland. These include Dr. Cosby’s latest book from HarperCollins, I Am What I Ate and I’m Frightened!!!, which was released in October 2004 and entered the New York Times Best Seller List at number 5. The book offers a hip, humorous, hard-earned wisdom on the healthy lifestyle and the behavior behind it.
Established in 1983 by the Health Education Center, Inc., to heighten awareness of health promotion and disease prevention, the Porter Prize is named in honor of the center’s founding chairman Milton Porter (1910-1996), who also served as a director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Carnegie Institute. Since 1999, the prize has been administered by GSPH with support from The Adrienne and Milton Porter Charitable Foundation. The 2005 award to Dr. Cosby marks the twentieth anniversary of the presentation of the first Porter Prize in 1985 to health economist and author Anne Somers, Ph.D.
Since then, Porter Prize recipients have included Fred Rogers, for his work in childhood education; C. Everett Koop, M.D., for calling national attention to poor behavior as a determinant to health; community-based healthcare advocate Wilford Payne; Louis Sullivan, M.D., former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who initiated “Healthy People,” the nation’s first-ever ‘goals for prevention;’ social worker and author Lisbeth Schorr; and William Novelli, president of the American Association of Retired People, for his creative approach to health improvements for all ages.
Stephen B. Thomas, Ph.D., Philip Hallen Professor of community health and social justice and director of the Center for Minority Health at GSPH; and Esther Bush, president and chief executive officer, Urban League of Pittsburgh, will serve as co-hosts for the program.
Dr. Cosby is one of the most influential stars in America today. Through concert appearances, recordings, television, films, commercials and education, Dr. Cosby has touched many people's lives. His humor often centers on the basic cornerstones of people’s existence, seeking to provide an insight into our roles as parents, children, family members and men and women.
The 1984-92 run of The Cosby Show and his books Fatherhood and Time Flies established new benchmarks on how success is measured. His lifelong contributions to American culture have been recognized through a Kennedy Center Honor in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America¹s highest civilian honor, in July 2002.
Today, Dr. Cosby influences a new generation of young children with his Little Bill animated series, which airs daily on Nickelodeon and Saturday mornings on CBS. The show is based on Dr. Cosby's popular children's books. His interest in young people also spawned his best-selling book, Congratulations! Now What? The book contains his amusing, yet wise, take on college life and what lies ahead for the new graduate in the real world.
Dr. Cosby has been a crusader throughout his career for a better world and for better understanding among people. Besides his involvement with a host of charity organizations, he also is an active trustee of his alma mater, Temple University. As philanthropists, Dr. Cosby and his wife, Camille, have made substantial gifts in support of education (most notably to predominantly African American colleges) and to various social service and civil rights organizations. The cash award associated with the Porter Prize will go to an educational scholarship fund of Dr. Cosby’s choosing.
In addition, Dr. Cosby also holds a Masters Degree in Education (M. Ed.) and a Doctorate in Education (Ed. D.) from the University of Massachusetts.
Founded in 1948 and fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, GSPH is world-renowned for contributions that have influenced public health practices and medical care for millions of people. One of the top-ranked schools of public health in the United States, GSPH was the first fully accredited school of public health in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with alumni who are among the leaders in their fields of public health. The only school of public health in the nation with a chair in minority health, GSPH is a leader in research related to women's health, HIV/AIDS and human genetics, among others.
