Stephanie Boone, PhD, MPH  

“Dr. Johnson is a dynamic professor who politely challenges and inspires students to be true connoisseurs of health management.  He's very committed and obviously provides great leadership to his department, along with being a valued professor.”

“He cares about building and maintaining relationships with his students. He's more than a professor. He's a lifelong mentor.”

“Dr. David Johnson is one of those professors that you respect so much that you don't want to skip class. You want him to feel as though you're giving your best effort. He has an extensive knowledge of the content and excels at presenting that information to his students in an effective way.”

“Professor Johnson genuinely cares about the success of his students. He treats each of us as his equal, which enables us to have open and honest discussions. David is all around an awesome person. He is relatable, kind, wise, and trustworthy. I could not imagine any other professor more worthy of the award.”

“I love Rishtya's class. You can tell she cares for her students, and she makes learning easy. She's the reason I choose to stay in public health!”

“Dr. Kong is a hard-working teacher and an extraordinary mentor. She always thinks about what is best for all the students and works accordingly.”

“Dr. Lorenz is definitely one of the best professors I've ever had the privilege to learn from. Although the material was daunting to many of us in the Public Health program, he prepared his material in a very organized way and made all of his lectures available online to be accessible at any time. During class he gets very passionate about the subject at hand, which makes class time engaging and the topic interesting. He is truly an inspiration because I always considered myself "not a math person,” but only through his class have I actually discovered how powerful analyzing data can be and how much I enjoy statistics. It takes a certain person/professor to help a student discover a hidden liking for a subject they used to "hate." I owe a large amount of my positive experience in learning this semester to Dr. Lorenz, and he deserves this award so he realizes how much of a difference he makes every day in the classroom.”

“I am not even sort of close to being talented at math, but Dr. Lorenz is one of the few professors I've come across that has the gift of being able to really transform the material into something understandable, fun, and exciting. I'm glad this program gives us two semesters with him.”

“He teaches one of the most difficult courses in my program, but he comes to class so well prepared that his simplistic explanation makes it look easy. He painstakingly explains over and over again and still completes the materials scheduled for that day.”

“Rachel Quick has been nothing but a blessing in my life. As an incoming freshman, she has made me feel welcomed as well as even motivated to be the best student I can possibly be and an even better individual. Her passion for helping Public Health students shows through the personalized emails she sends to her most recent freshmen and the effort she puts in to meet with those who are struggling. The time she puts in to make sure we are not only physically healthy, but mentally healthy as well, is truly amazing and should not go unappreciated. I cannot see any other faculty member winning this award.”

“My Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Shesh N. Rai, is an extremely helpful and wonderful person. He is always open to new ideas, dedicated to the betterment of his students. His immense patience and continuous guidance are helping me to develop research ideas, and I really enjoy working with him. Most importantly, he creates a welcoming learning environment making me comfortable to communicate. His "independent thinking, open-ended style" of guidance intimidates me sometimes as I come from a background where education is more like spoon-fed than working on your own, however, it has made me work harder putting forth more effort.  I look forward to the next two years of my Ph.D. and hope to continually learn new skills and ideas from him.”

“I would like to say something very important that we can all learn from Pete Walton and how he impacted me. First, Pete has a creative and decorative mind, and as we all know, very opinionated and thinks outside of the box. This is something to admire all in itself. The method of teaching his Capstone class was not perfect, however, he was on the track to teaching students learning through critical thinking, emotion and experience, and I believe this is a very important component that is missing from education, so please keep this in mind and keep this alive. I came to Pete’s office my junior year of college very frustrated at the way his class was structured and concerned with the way he wanted us to do things. When I came to his office, he sat with me for two and a half hours and listened to me about my project, my frustrations I had with him, my concerns I had about my decision to pursue public health. At the beginning of our session, I cried to Pete explaining my stresses and depression I had been going through since first coming to Louisville. Pete offered that I call him every day or as much as I needed to just so I could tell him about my day and to feel some sort of support. I don't know about you, but NEVER has a professor in my college career, out of the three colleges I have attended, offered something so selfless and valuable. I never did call Pete to inform him about my days and how my depression was coming along, but I will never forget the vulnerable and kind gesture he made to me. That type of work is not in his job description, yet he was compassionate enough to care and that is what makes good professors and good people. So, farewell to Pete, you will be missed at the University of Louisville, and I wish you a gentle, sarcasm-filled happy life :) This is actually very cliché but stay true to yourself. We need more people like you in our world!”

“Dr. Weiss does a great job in making what is relatively dry material very engaging, while pushing us to be more involved within the class. By balancing her knowledge with the textbook material presented by the class, we are able to gain a new insight into the world of human resources.”

“She is a wonderful instructor, mentor, and thinker and is focused on increasing justice in the community, as well as building the next generation of leaders in our field.”

“Dr. Monica Wendel is not afraid to engage in the tough "stuff." Whether it’s examining the relevance and utility of course material, or ensuring that her students are healthy, she steps up to the plate to foster opportunities for students to develop, heal, and benefit from the experience of her class. It is GREATLY appreciated!”

“Dr. Wu is very expert at lecturing the class. I could master the content in the class so clearly with the help of her. I am so thankful.”