Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Appoints New Administrator
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2008
Contact
Julie Pryde, Public Health Administrator
(217) 531-5369 /
Lori A. Holmes, Public Relations
(217) 531-2927
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Appoints New Administrator
Julie A. Pryde Becomes First Female Administrator in CUPHD’s 70 Year History
Champaign, IL – At the monthly Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) Board of Health Meeting on Monday, November 10, 2008, Board members unanimously appointed Julie A. Pryde as the new Public Health Administrator. This announcement was met with a round of impromptu applause from audience members attending the meeting. Pryde had been serving as Acting Administrator for over 1 ½ years, since the previous Administrator, Vito Palazzolo, was placed on administrative leave.
“We as the Board are honored to announce that Julie Pryde has been appointed as the permanent CUPHD Administrator.” said Carol Elliott, Chair of the CUPHD Board of Health. “Ms. Pryde has the support of the Board, the staff at CUPHD and the community and has already proven her ability to lead. We are lucky to have her.”
The CUPHD Board of Health released a public advisory on Friday, November 7, 2008 encouraging community leaders and members to attend Monday’s meeting to discuss the appointment of the Public Health Administrator and provide public commentary. Board members received many letters, emails, and phone calls requesting that Pryde be formally appointed as Administrator, and many community members, CUPHD staff and State officials attended Monday’s meeting to give personal testimonials on Pryde’s behalf.
“I was immensely touched by all the support I received at the Board of Health meeting.” said Julie Pryde, Public Health Administrator for CUPHD. “Public health is what I want to do, and I am thrilled that I can do what I love in a community as open, diverse, and progressive as Champaign-Urbana. CUPHD has had many challenges in the past, but I am confident that the future is very bright. We have a group of employees who are dynamic, passionate, and dedicated.”
Julie Pryde started at CUPHD in 1989 as a social work intern working under Joan W. Lathrap. After graduating with her Masters in 1992, Julie worked as Program and Policy Consultant for “Hope for the Children”, as a Senior Research Associate for the National Mentor Project, UIUC; and as an Adjunct Faculty in “Social Welfare Policy” and “Contemporary Social Work” at the UIUC’s School of Social Work.
Julie Pryde joined the staff of CUPHD in June of 1995 as a Program Consultant in the Division of Social Services and as the Project Director for the IL Region 6 HIV Prevention Implementation Group. In 2001, she was hired as the Director of the Division of HIV/STD/TB Prevention and Management at CUPHD. In 2005, the Division expanded to include communicable diseases and adult immunizations and was renamed the Division of Infectious Disease Prevention and Management. In May of 2007, Julie was appointed Acting Public Health Administrator.
Julie Pryde is an accomplished grant writer, researcher, and speaker. She has been published in three professional journals and has presented at such national conferences as the International Mobile Health Conference in Las Vegas, the US Conference on AIDS in Anaheim, and the National Harm Reduction Conference in Seattle. She has also been a consultant and speaker with the Illinois Department of Public Health. Julie was awarded the “Joan Severns Award” by the Greater Community AIDS Project, the “Red Ribbon Award for Takin It ToThe Streets” from the Illinois Department of Public Health, and was a member of the Leadership Circle with the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. She also served as an Investigator for the the Home Access’ FDA Post-Marketing Surveillance Study. She currently serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Illinois Morbidity Monitoring Project, and as a Board Member of MobileOutreach.info.
For more information on CUPHD and its many programs, please contact CUPHD at (217) 352-7961 or visit CUPHD on the web at www.Stock2forFlu or www.c-uphd.org.
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