At our Annual General Meeting 2023 held 21 September we were delighted to announce the Honorary Fellowships and Special Awards recognising those individuals doing an amazing job in public health.

Honorary Fellowships go to:

Professor Carol Tannahill OBE

Carol has had a long and successful career in public health. For nearly 20 years she was Director of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health and between 2014 and 2021 was the Chief Social Policy Adviser to the Scottish Government. She is the Vice Chair of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and an honorary professor at the University of Glasgow. Over her career, she has championed public and population health, advising governments, statutory bodies and charities. She was in awarded an OBE for services to public health.

Deborah Arnott

Deborah has shaped many of the policies for tobacco control that have saved thousands of lives over the last 20 years. As Chief Executive of ASH, Action on Smoking and Health, she has fought for better policy around tobacco control and support for those who smoke to stop. She is an associate professor at the University of Nottingham and continues to not only champion better tobacco control globally, but also to tackle the wider determinants and commercial determinants of health.

Graham Rushbrook.
Graham has had a 30 year career in health and social care. Starting as a social worker, he is a great example of practitioners from the wider public health workforce, bringing their skills to both service change and policy development. After leaving the NHS as Director of Health Promotion he joined the Department of Health, here he led the input for both health champions and health trainers’ programs, and at a local level was responsible for health improvement services in HIV, sexual health, primary care training and development. He has a long-standing relationship with RSPH where he has lead work around behaviour change and of course expertly Chaired our Health and Wellbeing awards.

Dr Nigel Carter
Dr Nigel Carter started his career as a dentist. Seeing the importance of dental health as a key public health issue. He has led the Oral Health Foundation for over 20 years. Starting as trustee and chair and then as chief executive. He is the past chair of the Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe. And received an OBE for services to dentistry. He has been a board member at RSPH for over 20 years as a trustee, treasurer and most recently as chair.

RSPH Special Awards

Each year RSPH members and trustees can nominate public health professionals who have gone ‘above and beyond’ and made a real contribution to improve the public’s health.

This year RSPH is delighted to make two awards:

The RSPH Outstanding Achievement in Public Health

Dame Rachel De Souza

Dame Rachel De Souza is the children’s commissioner for England. Her role requires her to advocate and give voice to the most vulnerable children in society. Starting her career in teaching, she is a former headteacher and the founding chief executive of the Inspiration Trust with over 14 schools within the trust. She worked across a range of places that not only experienced deprivation but supported children living with a range of challenges. Taking up her role as a children’s commissioner in 2021, one of her first acts was to lead the largest detailed survey of children ever, with over 550,000 children giving their ideas and views, her work ranges from online safety to mental health to reducing absenteeism, all with the idea of supporting vulnerable children in society to succeed and thrive.

The RSPH Outstanding Contribution to Public Health

Lord Victor Adebowale CBE

Lord Victor Adebowale’s career has been all about tackling inequalities. From his early roles in housing including Chief Executive of Centrepoint to leading Turning Point, an organisation providing support for people experiencing complexity in their lives. He has been an outspoken and passionate advocate for social justice and fairness. In addition to his executive roles, he has held a number of non-executive posts, including Chair of the NHS Confederation at NHS England and in establishing a range of not-for-profit start-ups. His career epitomises a diversity of careers within public health, and he has done so tirelessly championing inequalities. He was made a People’s Peer in 2001 and was one of the first people in the UK to take on this role.