Citing her policy responses to the AIDS epidemic and an enduring and effective advocacy on the part of children and other groups most impacted by health inequities, the Connecticut Public Health Association has bestowed its highest honor—the C.-E.A. Winslow Award—on Shelley Geballe, an alumna and now a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health.
The annual award is presented to a practicing public health professional in the state who has made discernible and lasting contributions to improving the public’s health. Geballe will be formally presented with the award on Oct. 21 at the annual CHPA conference.
Geballe, who combines her public health training with a legal background, is being recognized for contributions to public health that have spanned more than two decades and have touched populations as diverse as prison inmates and children with HIV.
The awards committee credited her for unwavering leadership and determination in pursuit of social justice and health equity, her advocacy for children, youth and women and for her current public health workforce development efforts at Yale University.
“Shelley Geballe is a most fitting recipient,” the awards committee said.
Geballe, J.D. ’76, M.P.H. ’95, was also recognized by the School of Public Health earlier this year when she was named the 2011 Mentor of the Year. Nominated by graduating students and selected by a student/faculty sub-committee, Geballe was credited with “creating a welcoming and open space” for students both in and out of the classroom.
She currently teaches a course on health disparities and a new practicum to foster more practical learning opportunities for students in health policy settings. She also organized a dinner series where students have the opportunity to talk candidly with public policy experts about their work and careers.
Elaine O’Keefe, executive director of Yale’s Office of Community Health and of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, has worked with Geballe on various public health initiatives dating back 25 years, including a lawsuit brought on behalf of Connecticut inmates who were denied access to HIV prevention and care services.
“That formidable case typifies Shelley’s undaunted resolve on important and often dicey public health policy issues,” O’Keefe said. “I was at once impressed with her intellectual rigor and her compassion. Her commitment to the cause of health equity is extraordinary as are her many accomplishments in the social and health policy arena and in academia.”
Geballe’s work at Connecticut Voices for Children, an organization she co-founded and led for 13 years, and currently focuses on state fiscal issues, education, and child and family health and mental health. Among her contributions to public health, Geballe helped to advance policy responses to the AIDS epidemic, and played a pivotal role in assuring access to prevention and care services for disproportionately impacted groups including Connecticut inmates, Medicaid recipients, school-aged children with HIV/AIDS and children in Connecticut’s foster care system.
She also co-directs Yale Law School’s Legislative Services, a clinical legal training program that provides students in law and public health with hands-on experience in state policy and fiscal work and legislative advocacy.
The award was created in 1955 in honor of Winslow, who in 1915 founded what would eventually become the Yale School of Public Health. Winslow is recognized as one of the leaders of the modern public health movement and served as department chairman until his retirement in 1945. Among other things, he took an active role in housing issues in the New Haven area and formulated plans to redevelop slum areas to improve public health.