RUSH University professor and chairperson to receive 2024 UIC School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award
Diane Howard, Ph.D., FACHE has been named the 2024 UIC School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recipient. Howard is currently a professor and chair in the Department of Health Systems Management (HSM) at RUSH University where she teaches the professionalism and capstone courses. She serves on several committees including HSM career services, chairman’s council, research and faculty appointments and promotions.
Howard will be honored alongside distinguished alumni from each division of the School of Public Health at an awards ceremony and reception at the Driehaus Museum on November 7, 2024.
Prior to her appointment at RUSH, Howard was Vice President of Medical Delivery at Aetna, Inc in Washington, DC and Vice President of Medicare, Medicaid and Individual Products at U.S. Healthcare in Philadelphia.
Howard has also served on a number of hospital, alumni, association and church boards as a way to give back to the broader community.
“I am incredibly humbled and honored to receive the UIC School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. My time at UIC School of Public Health gave me the knowledge and skills to continue a successful and meaningful career in health management. The PhD program at UIC SPH was rigorous and rewarding. It is very significant to be recognized this way, knowing the outstanding alumni who have preceded me in receiving this award.”
Howard earned her Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. She also holds a B.A. from Hampton University and M.P.H from the University of Pittsburgh.
The Annual Alumni Celebration & Awards Reception returns to an in-person format after a 5-year hiatus. The previous alumni awards reception was held virtually in 2021. The last in-person alumni awards reception was at the Willis Tower in 2019.
“We are excited to reinstate the Annual Alumni Celebration and Awards Reception at the School of Public Health. For more than 50 years, UIC SPH has been educating the next generation of public health leaders and it is only right that we recognize those leaders who are doing good work in the City of Chicago and beyond,” SPH Dean Wayne Giles said. “Dr. Howard is very deserving of this award because of her dedication to improving public health access and to educating the future public health leaders of the world.”
The 2024 Annual Alumni Celebration & Awards Reception will be held on November 7, 2024 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Driehaus Museum. For ticket and sponsorship information, click here.