News Briefs

Dr. Barbara K. Rimer, Alumni distinguished professor of health behavior and health education in UNC’s School of Public Health, recently received the Healthtrac Foundation’s 2004 Health Education Award.

The Health Education Award is a national award for a health educator who has made a substantial contribution to advancing the field of healtheducation or health promotion through research, program development or program delivery.

She received this award at the annual meeting of the Society for Public Health Education in Washington, D.C. The award comes with an unrestricted stipend of $25,000.

Rimer is deputy director for population sciences at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she oversees and helps to develop cancer prevention and control, as well as cancer epidemiology, programs.

Her nominator for the award, Dr. Michael Eriksen, professor and director at Georgia State University’s Institute of Public Health, said, "Dr. Rimer is admired for her substantial contribution to both academic research and public service. She is one of the rare individuals who makes a difference in discovery and dissemination. The health of the nation has directly benefited from Barbara’s commitment and dedication."

The Healthtrac Foundation is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to identify and honor individuals whose achievements have made the greatest contribution to the health of the public.

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The main lobby of the Knapp-Sanders Building, home of UNC’s School of Government, will be dedicated Friday (Nov. 19) in memory of former N.C. Gov. Luther Hartwell Hodges.

Hodges, widely known for his leadership in creating Research Triangle Park, was a strong proponent of higher education and economic development while serving as governor from 1954 to 1960. The community college act was passed during his administration, and he was the first elected state leader to make industrial recruitment and economic development a top state priority.

After a successful career in the textile industry, Hodges was elected lieutenant governor in 1952. He served six years as governor following the death of Gov. William B. Umstead in 1954. Hodges later was appointed Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce by President John F. Kennedy, serving in this post until 1965. He died in 1974.

The naming of the lobby honors the governor’s many contributions to state and local government and was made possible by gifts totaling $250,000 to the school from Cheray and Luther Hodges Jr. of Chapel Hill, and Betsy and Donald Bernard of Durham. Luther Hodges Jr. and Betsy Hodges Bernard are children of the former governor. The school will use the gifts to support its operations and programs.

The School of Government provides teaching, advising, research and publications that help public officials and citizens understand and improve state and local government. In September, the school held a dedication for its newly renovated and expanded facility.

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Note: For a photo of Rimer, go to http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/rimer_barbara.jpg

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415