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Nation Loses Revered Voice in Tobacco Control

11/7/2008

Passion, Dogged Determination to Save Lives Drove Dr. Ronald M. Davis In Remarkable Career Cut Short by Pancreatic Cancer Statement by Cheryl G. Healton, Dr. P.H., President and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation

Washington, DC – The Board of Directors and staff of the American Legacy Foundation extend their condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues across the nation and around the world who worked with Dr. Ron Davis, who passed away yesterday. His contributions to our collective efforts to decrease the deadly toll of tobacco were countless and his spirit and drive were motivators for all those fortunate enough to know him.

Dr. Davis’s involvement in public health dates to his years as a young medical student. Over the years, Dr. Davis served the tobacco control community in numerous ways, including as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health; as chief medical officer of the Michigan Department of Public Health; most recently in the private sector at the Henry Ford Health System and as a public health advocate through his work as President of the American Medical Association. He was an expert witness in litigation against the tobacco industry and a National Cancer Institute-funded researcher. He was also the founding editor of the world's very first scientific journal dedicated to the field of tobacco control. First and foremost, he was a wonderful husband, father and friend.

The field of tobacco control and prevention is far richer today for Dr. Davis’s involvement and we celebrate his significant contributions to the larger public health community. His courage, grace and good humor were and remain an inspiration to all of us who knew him.   

At the American Legacy Foundation, we believe a legacy isn’t something you leave behind when you die, but something you build every day you live. Dr. Davis’s legacy is one devoted to saving lives. The foundation will honor Dr. Davis posthumously with our Lifetime Achievement Award at our Legacy Honors Gala in March 2009, where we will celebrate his enormous contributions to the field of tobacco control with his ardent admirers and loved ones.

The American Legacy Foundation^® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The Foundation’s programs include truth^®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX^®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.americanlegacy.org.

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Contact: Julia Cartwright, 202-454-5596, jcartwright@americanlegacy.org