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Former Houston Health Director
Named Distinguished Professional Woman
Mary desVignes-Kendrick, M.D., former director of the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services, joined former mayors, astronauts, deans and more who have received the Distinguished Professional Woman's Award at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Mary desVignes-Kendrick, M.D., center, holds the plaque she received as the UT Health Science Center at Houston Distinguished Professional Woman for 2004. With her are Linda Nieman, Ph.D., chair of the Committee on the Status of Women, which hosts the annual awards banquet, and Guy Parcel, Ph.D., dean of the UT School of Public Health at Houston, who nominated desVignes-Kendrick for the award.
Photo by Ester Fant
Honored at the Dec. 8 awards banquet of the Committee on the Status of Women, desVignes-Kendrick "is a distinguished professional woman who has had a phenomenal career," said Guy Parcel, Ph.D., dean of the UT School of Public Health at Houston. Parcel, who is also the John P. McGovern, M.D., Professor in Health Promotion, nominated her for the award and introduced her at the banquet.
DesVignes-Kendrick is professor of management, policy and community health practice at the School of Public Health and deputy director of the school's Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness. She works with Scott R. Lillibridge, M.D., biosecurity center director, to develop and conduct training, research and consultation for the public health workforce in areas including first response, risk communications, border health security and emergency preparedness.
Parcel spoke of the challenges DesVignes-Kendrick encountered in the fourth largest city in the U.S. as, during her 12-year tenure at the Houston Department of Health and Human Services, she dealt with public health issues including disease outbreaks, food-borne illnesses, prenatal care, infant mortality, infant immunizations, restaurant inspections, tracking sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, Hepatitis C,West Nile Virus, biosecurity and the 2001 anthrax scare.
She exemplifies a public health professional, Parcel said, and she is a role model for professional women. A graduate of the School of Public Health, she has served as president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials and board member of the United Way of Houston, Texas/Gulf Coast. "In addition," Parcel said, "she has raised a family with her husband."
Upon accepting her award, desVignes-Kendrick said she was "deeply honored and truly touched" to have been selected for the award - "I couldn't think of a more strongly reinforcing way to be welcomed into the school." She thanked the many people at the School of Public Health who made and continue to make it easy to acclimate to the school's policies, procedures and environs.
Mentor Awards
At the banquet the President's Award for Mentoring Women, including a $2,000 cash award, was presented to three individuals:
- Faculty - Nancy Murray, Dr.P.H., assistant professor of behavioral sciences, School of Public Health;
- A&P - Paula Knudson, special advisor for research involving human subjects; and
- Classified staff - Debra Wallis, a former researcher in Medical Genetics, UT Medical School at Houston.
Linda Nieman, Ph.D., chair of the Committee on the Status of Women, said this year's President's Award winners once again embody the emphasis on mentoring that the committee promotes.
"Mentoring is a way of showing people the ropes," said Nieman, who is professor and vice chair of the Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine at the Medical School. "It helps in career development and promotes productivity." She added that mentoring provides a context for people to work within and provides a role model for what those being mentored may aspire to be some day.