2015 Luther L Terry Awards presented

The American Cancer Society presented the 2015 Luther L Terry Awards for Exemplary Leadership in Tobacco Control at a ceremony on 19 March in Abu Dhabi at the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health.

The awards are named for the late US Surgeon General Luther L Terry whose landmark 1964 Surgeon General’s report connected tobacco use to lung cancer and other illnesses. They recognise outstanding global achievement in the field of tobacco control, in six categories: outstanding individual leadership, outstanding organization, outstanding research contribution, exemplary leadership by a government ministry, distinguished career, and outstanding community service. Those honoured this year were:

  • Jonathan Samet, MD, MS, from the United States received the Distinguished Career award.
  • The United Kingdom Department of Health’s Tobacco Program received the award for Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry.
  • Eduardo Bianco, MD, from Uruguay received the award for Outstanding Individual Leadership.
  • The Smoke Free Partnership, located in Belgium, received the Outstanding Organization award.
  • Geoffrey Fong, PhD, from Canada and Frank Chaloupka, PhD, from the United States received awards for Outstanding Research Contributions.
  • Patti White, from the United Kingdom, and Tariana Turia, from New Zealand, received awards for Outstanding Community Service.

The Terry awards are presented triennially at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health. The initial awards were presented in 2000. Information on previous recipients is available at cancer.org/lutherterry.

In 2015, the award nominations were reviewed by an international selection committee of previous Luther L Terry Award winners, including: Dileep G. Bal, MD, MS, MPH, United States; Beatriz M. Champagne, PhD, Mexico; Hatai Chitanondh, MD, FICS, FRCS, Thailand; Michael Cummings, PhD, MPH, United States; Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, United States; Professor Mike Daube, Australia; Deborah Arnott, MBA, United Kingdom; Martin Raw, PhD, United Kingdom, Yussuf Saloojee, PhD, South Africa; Prabhat Jha, MD, DPhil, Canada; Melanie Wakefield, PhD, Australia; Mira Aghi, PhD, India; and Stan Shatenstein, Canada.  The effort was chaired by Jacqui Drope, and Andrea Lancaster, MPH, as executive director.

A reception followed the ceremony.