Epidemiology is the scientific method used to investigate, analyze and prevent or control a health problem in a population. Epidemiologists rely on a number of other scientific disciplines such as biology (to better understand disease processes), biostatistics (to appropriately analyze health data) and social science disciplines (to better understand risk factors and behaviors related to disease and health).

Beth Toby Grossman was a student at the UT School of Public Health whose life was tragically cut short during her public health training. Her family began a professorship to honor her spirit and desire to do good in the world. I am honored to be the recipient of this award. When I’m tired and feeling kind of down, I often think of the responsibility I carry with this distinction: to help children live stronger, healthier lives. It keeps me going.

The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living is situated inside the Austin Regional Campus of UTHealth. The mission of the Dell Center is "Healthy Children in a Healthy World"​. I sit on the Executive Council overseeing all operations with Deanna Hoelscher (Director), Bill Kohl , Alexandra Vandenberg, and Kelley Gabrial. https://sph.uth.edu/research/centers/dell/https://www.facebook.com/msdcenterhttps://twitter.com/msdcenterhttp://www.pinterest.com/msdcenter/http://instagram.com/msdcenter

When the new campus was formed, I assisted Dean Cheryl Perry, of the Austin Regional Campus, by acting as a liaison between our campus, UT Austin the new UT Dell Medical School. Primarily, I am worked to develop the MD|MPH dual degree program. Although no longer Dean, I still serve as liaison for the MD|MPH program.

I am the founding board member of the CATCH Global Foundation (CGF). As an unpaid volunteer, I worked with a fantastic team of school health professionals to create the foundation whose primary mission is to fund and disseminate programs and policies to improve child health. Founding partners of CGF includes the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, UT Health, MD Anderson Cancer Treatment Center, and the RGK Foundation.In 2016, I developed an e-cigarette prevention program called CATCH My Breath. Because of the epidemic of teen e-cigarette users, and the confusion/misinformation among teachers and parents, the program is going quite well. In October 2018, CATCH My Breath is being implemented in all 50 states.

During graduate school, to pay for my graduate training, I became a weekend soldier. At that time, the Army was offering 15% loan repayment per year service. After 5 years of service, I left my Masters and PhD with very little debt. Although I am not a military hawk, I did enjoy throwing hand grenades, shooting the M60 machine gun, firing the LAW and blasting Claymore mines. I became proficient in a military occupational specialty, advanced through the ranks, and received the student loan forgiveness. I believe in a strong national defense and in the use of National Guard power to assist citizens with emergencies and disasters. I am not a proponent for the use of military power for political theater, preemptive military strikes, or to support corrupt political regimes. I also believe we need stricter gun control laws in America.The most valuable lesson I learned in the Army was in basic training, where I often pushed myself physical limits. I'm proud to say, I was the oldest guy at basic at 27, but never dropped out or quit when the conditioning or training exercises got rough. Some exercises required sleep deprivation, exhausting physical conditions, days of wearing chemical suits. Today, I often think to myself, if I could march 20 miles in full gear, in 100 degree heat, with training ambushes and tear gas occasionally tossed at us, I can give extra effort to overcome obstacles at my university faculty job. Thankfully, I was never activated to full time service or in war situations where correctly using these skills can mean life or death. But I knew I could perform under pressure and discomfort, if necessary.

As a young man, I learned a great deal about biology, pathology, and cancer in the world of medical product sales. Every day, I got up at the crack of dawn to sit in the surgeons lounge to inform them about our new surgical products. I sold internal and external skin and wound closing staplers. While in the surgeons lounge, I read JAMA and NEJM to learn more about the diseases my products were used for. This experience sparked my interest in Public Health and the value of preventing disease before becoming a surgical necessity.

My first job out of undergrad. I was trained in the Xerox sales method and turned loose on downtown Chicago and Northwest suburbs. I sold equipment and printing services, but mostly learned how to conduct myself as a professional. My boss had to hit with me with the stupid stick a few times, but eventually transformed my rural blue collar roots to a more professional salesman.

After high school, I needed a job to pay for college tuition, room and board. I found an opening with Knaack as a spot welder putting together toolboxes for construction sites. During summers, I would work 10 hours a day Monday - Friday and 5 hours on Saturday. The factory was extremely busy for years. Knaack also encouraged me to work over holidays (Thanskgiving, Christmas, Easter) while in school, or any Saturdays I wanted. Over time, I was trained in all the manufacturing positions, so that I could substitute for anybody absent, or help with manufacturing bottlenecks. I learned how to cut metal to size, fabricate angles, MIG weld and spotweld, spray enamel paint, assemble, box and ship. I also learned how to take apart the equipment, perform maintenance and cleaning. The tool boxes ranged from to small handhelds, pickup truck beds, to large 10 foot construction site boxes.It was hard, dirty and hot (the paint was cured in huge ovens) work, but Knaack provided valuable life lessons in self sufficiency and pride in earning your own way in life. Hard work did pay off. For me, it paid for college, room and board.