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Elliot L. Richardson Prize Ceremony (Virtual)
February 16, 2022 @ 07:00:00 pm - February 16, 2022 @ 08:30:00 pm
Eastern Time (ET)
Watch a recording of the ceremony below.
Elliot L. Richardson Prize Recipients
Dr. Francis Collins
Former Director of the National Institutes of Health
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. currently serves as a Senior Investigator in the intramural program of the National Human Genome Research Institute, pursuing genomics research on type 2 diabetes and a rare disorder of premature aging called progeria.
Dr. Collins previously served as the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2009. In 2017, President Donald Trump asked Dr. Collins to continue to serve as the NIH Director. President Joe Biden did the same in 2021. For those 12 years, serving an unprecedented three administrations, Dr. Collins oversaw the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, spanning the spectrum from basic to clinical research. Dr. Collins stepped down as Director on December 19, 2021.
Dr. Collins is a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his previous leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. He served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH from 1993-2008.
Dr. Collins is an elected member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007, and received the National Medal of Science in 2009. In 2020, he was elected as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (UK) and was also named the 50th.
Dr. Anthony Fauci
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the President
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, where he oversees an extensive research portfolio focused on infectious and immune-mediated diseases. As the long-time chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, Dr. Fauci has made many seminal contributions in basic and clinical research and is one of the world’s most-cited biomedical scientists. He was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives throughout the developing world.
Ceremony Details
Wednesday, February 16th | 7:00 - 8:30pm EST
Introduction of the Awardees: Dr. Joshua Sharfstein
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein is Professor of the Practice in Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he also serves as Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement and as Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative.
A pediatrician by training, he is a former health commissioner of Baltimore, Principal Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. FDA, and health secretary of Maryland. He is the author of the Public Health Crisis Survival Guide: Leadership and Management in Trying Times (2018).
Moderating the Discussion: Chuck Todd
Chuck Todd, NBC News political director and moderator of Meet the Press, spearheads the network’s premier political coverage, offering insider analysis and translation of Beltway politics across all platforms – zeroing in on what really matters in Washington and why.
Todd is a primary anchor for the network’s primetime election coverage and is known for holding politicians and newsmakers accountable, as well as conducting in-depth news-making interviews with lawmakers on both side of the aisle.
Todd has earned the reputation as one of Washington’s most respected political journalists, paving the way for Meet the Press to become the #1 Sunday public affairs program, winning across the board for the 2018-2019 broadcast season.
About the Elliot L. Richardson Prize for Excellence in Public Service
This award recognizes individuals for extraordinary public service, in the fine tradition of Elliot Richardson, who served as a beacon of integrity and commitment to the public service. Richardson was a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and served in four Cabinet-level positions in the U.S. government, including Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, and Secretary of Commerce.
Shortly, after his death on December 31, 1999, several friends and admirers of this exceptional public servant decided to establish a prize in honor of his memory. The bylaws of the Prize specify that the Richardson Prize is to be awarded to individuals "possessing the public service virtues exemplified by Elliot L. Richardson." Moreover, they state that such individuals "shall have demonstrated achievement, be significantly advancing the public good, and long-term dedication to public service, by serving the public interest in a public service capacity." Additionally, the bylaws state that individuals selected to receive the Richardson Prize "shall have demonstrated generosity of spirit, thoughtfulness in the pursuit of excellence in government, courage, and integrity."
Several of the past Prize recipients are Fellows or Honorary Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration. Previous recipients of this distinguished award are the following: Colin Powell, Alice Rivlin, George Shultz, Norman Mineta, Sandra Day O’Connor, Lee Hamilton, Tom Kean, James Baker, George Mitchell, Robert Gates, Sheila Colleen Bair, Paul Volcker, Jr., John Koskinen, William D. Ruckelshaus, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Leon Panetta, and Edmund G. Brown, Jr.