For over 30 years, Dr. Lloyd Novick passionately championed the importance of promoting scholarship from public health practice. A pragmatic leader and a consummate scientist, his career was shaped by his academic training and his evidence-based executive roles in both state and local public health agencies. This unique background gave him a compelling argument for disseminating knowledge that had been tested in the field. Three decades later, the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice has become a respected resource for public health practitioners and academic researchers alike.
I first met Dr. Novick when he was the Director of the Onondaga County Health Department. I later learned that I had also benefited from his leadership earlier in my career, when he was the director of the Arizona State Health Department. When I first heard about his idea to start a journal, I was a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. I remember my mentors, Dr. Hugh Tilson and Dr. Arden Miller, remarking that it would be wonderful to have a journal focused on public health practice. They lamented that unlike other fields, such as epidemiology or laboratory science—where a new instrument or test variation could almost guarantee a publication—practice-oriented papers had no natural home. There was sincere interest and enthusiasm for a journal that would encourage and support practice-based research.
Later in my career, I was honored to serve with Dr. Ed Baker and Dr. Bud Nicola at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Practice Program Office. I was thrilled to work regularly with Dr. Novick, especially during the early days of developing and testing the National Public Health Performance Standards Program, the precursor to the landmark work now being done by the Public Health Accreditation Board. Dr. Novick had a strong interest in our work and was eager to promote the science behind a standards-based approach to public health.
The Journal also strongly supported public health workforce issues, including developing competency-based training programs. Dr. Novick, along with my friend and colleague Dr. Maureen Lichtfield, also championed the work of what is now the National Board of Public Health Examiners, with its Certified in Public Health credential. This same dedication was evident in many other areas that make up public health infrastructure, including finance, administrative organization, preparedness, and quality improvement. The Journal and its editorial board reflected the strong enthusiasm and scientific rigor that Dr. Novick brought to the field.
I am confident that the valuable work being done in our field today is more scientifically grounded because of the presence of a journal that has promoted and encouraged inquiry and improvement.
Anyone who has worked with Lloyd Novick knew him as a no-nonsense professional with a strong work ethic and keen editing skills. He had a reputation for being tough but fair, and hard charging yet compassionate and encouraging. Lloyd was persistent in wanting the best for the Journal because he knew it had the potential to change the practice of public health and provide important support for improvements that would benefit the public’s health. His lifelong commitment to public health was a testament to his character as a physician, public health director, and researcher. I am proud to have called him my friend.
About the Author
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Paul K. Halverson, DrPH, MHSA, FACHE, is the Dean of OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, Health Systems Management & Policy at Portland State University. He has served in key leadership roles, including professor and founding dean of Indiana University’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health since May 2013. He earned a doctorate in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a master’s in health services administration from Arizona State University.
Before joining Indiana University, he was the state health officer and director for the Arkansas Department of Health and held senior leadership roles at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including as the director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Public Health. He previously held faculty leadership roles at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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