Dr. Lloyd Novick: A Legacy of Mentorship and Vision

Posted on November 2, 2025 by Gulzar H. Shah

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series November 2025

Dr. Novick, Stewardship that Shaped More Than a Journal

This blog post is to pay tribute to Dr. Lloyd Novick for his mentoring and tremendous influence on the field of public health, highlighting his visionary leadership and editorial integrity while serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice (JPHMP) for three decades. I don’t just remember Dr. Lloyd Novick as an editor-in-chief or a pioneering public health leader but also an exceptional mentor who shaped not only my work ethics but also my passion and values. Like hundreds of other researchers and public health practitioners, I was lucky to have Dr. Novick as a mentor, which allowed me to gain deeply from his wealth of experience and knowledge. His legacy will live on through these researchers and practitioners he mentored and through the values he instilled in those of us privileged to work closely with him.

For over a decade, I had the honor of serving JPHMP, first on the editorial board and later as a member of the editorial team, led by Dr. Novick. I gained valuable insights from his unwavering dedication to rigor, fairness, and intellectual honesty directly during that time. He pioneered publishing of practice-based research with an aim to produce practice-relevant research evidence for improving public health interventions, and in turn, population health. He saw promise in people even when they didn’t see it themselves yet.

JPHMP Editorial Board, Nov. 2018
Back row: Justin B. Moore, Lloyd Novick, Paul Halverson, Jeffrey Bethel, Jay Maddock, Brian Castrucci
Front row: Vincent Lafronza, Ben Truman, Gulzar Shah, Peggy Honore, Valerie Yeager, Li-Wu Chen, LaQuandra Nesbitt

Mentorship for Nurturing the Next Generation of Leaders

From my own experience, Dr. Novick recognized and valued thoroughness in review assignments and rewarded reviewers by inviting them to serve on the editorial board. He had a strong faith in people’s abilities, and he often gave them support by giving them quiet but important chances. I knew it wasn’t just a title when he nominated me and then appointed me as Special Editor for Biostatistics. It showed that he trusted me and believed in my skills, and it was a challenge for me to step up to the duties that come with ability to make a difference.

He had a gift of helping people grow, not by telling them what to do but by showing them what it meant to be a responsible and moral scholar. His responsiveness to editorial process and hard work gave me the notion of “2^nd shift,” allowing me to be a better researcher. Having him as a role model and a mentor taught me that editing work is more than just being the gatekeepers of knowledge. He showed how we can be the stewards of fairness and transparency in our roles while being guardians of truth, inclusiveness, and openness.

Editorial Integrity and Values

When I had a chance to discuss my reviews with him, Dr. Novick always stressed balance. He had a way of being clear without condescension, critical with care, and firm with tact. He thought that giving constructive feedback in reviews was not just a nice thing to do, but a professional duty. When differences with reviewers came up, he handled them with calm confidence, settling them without undermining anyone’s dignity. One thing I will always remember from my interactions with Dr. Novick is that good leadership is calm, steady, and logical. He never wanted to be the center of attention, but his presence set the tone for the discussions on new initiatives.

Visionary Leadership with Lasting Lagacy

Dr. Novick was a futurist, a forward-thinking leader in the best sense. He was very good at seeing beyond trends, figuring out critical research needs before others could. He set editorial goals that considered both emerging science and enduring values. He focused on issues that others hadn’t yet embraced and made room for points of view that hadn’t found a platform for their expression. He encouraged research contributions from budding researchers; he championed the practitioners’ perspectives and took the students’ research contributions seriously.

Dr. Novick reminded us that excellence in research and humility in service go hand in hand. As we work on the November issue of JPHMP to remember him, I can’t help but think about how Dr. Novick affected my life in both professional and personal ways. He shaped my judgment, sharpened my sense of fairness, and encouraged me to raise the bar for myself and for the journal. And he did it all while being kind, humble, and generous with his time.

In a world that values speed over quality and fame over values, Dr. Novick’s legacy shows us that vision, mentorship, moral rigor, and kindness can go long ways. Thank you, Dr. Novick, for seeing something in me, for shaping how I see others, and for reminding us all of the quiet power of principled leadership. Your work lives on in the journal you started as a founding editor and through many of us who will continue to uphold the values you practiced and believed in.

About the Author

Gulzar H. Shah: Dr. Gulzar Shah serves as the Department Chair and Professor of Health Policy and Community Health at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University. With extensive expertise in public health systems and services research (PHSSR), health informatics, and health equity, Dr. Shah has published extensively, with over 180 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His research has made significant contributions to understanding local and state health department operations, workforce development, accreditation, and informatics capacity. Dr. Shah is recognized for his editorial leadership, holding roles as Editor or Associate Editor for several prominent public health journals, including the American Journal of Public Health and the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. His research has been supported by major federal grants, including a current multimillion-dollar award that enabled the establishment of an MPH concentration in health informatics, promoting health equity and workforce advancement. He has also contributed to developing national metrics for public health system capacity and guided public health policy through his service on advisory committees and editorial boards. Dr. Shah’s work emphasizes actionable, data-driven approaches to addressing health disparities and improving population health, making him a valuable addition to the editorial team of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.