Dr. Nathan Davis Awards Explained

The Dr. Nathan Davis Awards are presented annually by the American Medical Association (AMA) and awarded to elected and career public servants in national, state, and local governments for outstanding government service. These awards are named for the founder of the American Medical Association, Nathan Smith Davis.^[1]

The first Dr. Nathan Davis Awards were presented in 1989. Since then a number of prominent individuals have received a Dr. Nathan Davis Award for outstanding government service.^[2]

United States Senator

1989 Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., Connecticut
1990 Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts
1991 John D. Rockefeller, IV, West Virginia
1992 Dale Bumpers, Arkansas, Bob Dole, Kansas
1993 Christopher Dodd, Connecticut
1994 John H. Chafee, Rhode Island
1995 Mark O. Hatfield, Oregon
1996 Connie Mack, Florida
1997 Mike DeWine, Ohio
1998 John McCain, Arizona
1999 John B. Breaux, Louisiana
2001 Richard J. Durbin, JD, Illinois
2002 Dianne Feinstein, California
2003 Pete V. Domenici, New Mexico
2004 William H. Frist, MD, Tennessee
2005 Max Baucus, Montana, Chuck Grassley, Iowa
2006 Jon Kyl, Arizona
2007 Gordon H. Smith, Oregon
2008 Tom Harkin, Iowa
2009 Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts
2012 Debbie Stabenow, Michigan
2015 Irene Aguilar, MD, Colorado
2017 John Barrasso, MD, Wyoming

United States Representative

1989 Henry A. Waxman, California
1990 William H. Natcher, Kentucky
1991 J. Roy Rowland, MD, Georgia, C. W. "Bill" Young, Florida
1992 Charles B. Rangel, New York
1993 Charles W. Stenholm, Texas
1994 Nancy Johnson, Connecticut
1995 Bill Archer, Texas
1996 John Edward Porter, Illinois
1997 Marge Roukema, New Jersey
1998 Greg Ganske, MD, Iowa, Louis Stokes, Ohio
1999 Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland
2000 John D. Dingell, Michigan, Charlie Norwood, DDS, Georgia
2001 Michael Bilirakis, Florida
2002 Constance A. Morella, Maryland
2003 James C. Greenwood, Pennsylvania
2004 William M. Thomas, California
2006 J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois
2007 Sherrod Brown, Ohio
2008 Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland
2009 Nathan Deal, Georgia
2010 Donna Christensen, MD, U.S. Virgin Islands
2011 Rosa L. DeLauro, Connecticut
2012 Allyson Y. Schwartz, Pennsylvania
2014 Fred Upton, Michigan
2015 Michael C. Burgess, MD, Texas
2016 John Boehner, Ohio; and Nancy Pelosi, California
2017 Phil Roe, MD, Tennessee; and John Nygren, Wisconsin

Member of the Executive Branch by Presidential Appointment

1989 C. Everett Koop, MD, Surgeon General of the United States
1990 Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Secretary of Health and Human Services
1991 Margaret M. Heckler, former Secretary of Health and Human Services
1992 Antonia C. Novello, MD, Surgeon General of the United States
1993 Philip R. Lee, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health, Health and Human Services
1994 J. Jarrett Clinton, MD, MPH, former Assistant Secretary of Defense, Regional Health Administrator, Region V, Georgia
1996 David Satcher, MD, PhD, Director, Center for Disease Control and Prevention
1997 Donna Shalala, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
1998 Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, Under Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
1999 Ricardo Martinez, MD, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
2000 John M. Eisenberg, MD, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
2001 Jeffrey P. Koplan, MD, MPH, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2002 William H. Foege, MD, MPH, Former Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2003 Tommy Thompson, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services
2004 Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration
2005 William Winkenwerder, Jr., MD, MBA, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
2006 Carolyn Clancy, MD, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
2007 Margaret J. Giannini, MD, FAAP, Director, Office on Disability, US Department of Health and Human Services
2009 Jeffrey William Runge, MD, FACEP, President, Biologue, Inc.
2010 Vice Admiral John Mateczun, M.D., Commander, Joint Task Force, National Capital Region Medical
2011 R. Gil Kerlikowske, Commander, Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
2013 Donald Berwick, M.D., former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
2015 Bruce G. Gellin, MD, MPH Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Director, National Vaccine Program Office, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
2017 Andrew M. Slavitt, Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Member of the Executive Branch in Career Public Service

1989 Donald A. B. Lindberg, MD, Director, Library of Medicine, NIH, Ruth L. Kirschstein, MD, Director, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH
1991 William F. Raub, PhD, former Deputy Director, NIH
1992 Anthony S. Fauci, MD, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Director, Office of AIDS Research
1993 Samuel Broder, MD, Director, National Cancer Institute, NIH
1994 Donald L. Custis, MD, former Surgeon General of the Navy, former Chief Medical Director of Department of Veterans Affairs
1995 Kenneth P. Moritsugu, MD, Assistant Surgeon General and Medical Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons
1996 Edgar R. Anderson, Jr., MD, former Surgeon General of the U.S. Air Force
1997 Kevin R. Kerrigan, MD, Naval Hospital, North Charleston, South Carolina
1998 Claude J.M. Lenfant, MD, Director, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute National Institutes of Health
1999 Rear Admiral Michael L. Cowan, Deputy Director for Medical Readiness, The Joint Staff, Janet Woodcock, MD, Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration
2000 Marilyn H. Gaston, MD, Assistant Surgeon General, Associate Administrator Bureau of Primary Health, U.S. Public Health Service, Gerald David Fischbach, MD, Director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health
2001 James P. Bagian, MD, Director, VA National Center for Patient Safety Department of Veterans Affairs
2002 Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr., MD, Director, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics National Cancer Institute
2003 Judith Elaine Fradkin, MD, Director, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health
2004 Duane F. Alexander, MD, Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health
2005 Vice Admiral James A. Zimble, MD (USN Ret.), President Emeritus, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
2006 Christopher Allan Percy, MD, Medical Officer and Director of Community Health Services, Northern Navajo Medical Center
2007 Douglas R. Lowy, MD, Chief, Laboratory of Cellular Oncology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, John T. Schiller, PhD, Principal Investigator, Neoplastic Disease Section, Laboratory of Cellular Oncology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
2008 W. Marston Linehan, MD, Chief, Urologic Oncology Branch Center for Cancer Research National Cancer Institute
2009 D. Joe Boone, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Division of Laboratory Systems National Center for Preparedness, Detection and Control of Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2010 Ira Pastan, MD, Chief of the Molecular Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Health’s Center for Cancer Research
2011 William A. Gahl, MD, PhD, Clinical Director, National Human Genome Research Institute, Director, intramural program of the National Institutes of Health Office of Rare Diseases, Director, National Institutes of Health Undiagnosed Diseases Program
2012 Leon Esterowitz, PhD, Program Director, Biophotonics Directorate for Engineering, National Science Foundation
2013 Thomas R. Insel, M.D., Director, National Institute of Mental Health, Member of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government in Career Military Service
2000 Lieutenant General Ronald R. Blanck, DO, USA, Surgeon General of the Army, Rear Admiral Joyce Johnson, DO, MA, Director of Health and Safety, United States Coast Guard
2002 Lieutenant General Paul K. Carlton, Jr., MC, CFS, Surgeon General, United States Air Force, Captain Daniel Carucci, MD, Director, Malaria Program, Naval Medical Research Center, United States Navy
2003 Captain Daniel Carucci, MD, Director, Malaria Program, Naval Medical Research Center, United States Navy
2011 Vice Admiral Adam M. Robinson, Jr., MD, Surgeon General, United States Navy
2012 Lieutenant General Eric B. Schoomaker, MD, PhD, Surgeon General and Command General, USA MEDCOM, United States Army
2013 Major General Kimberly Siniscalchi, Assistant Surgeon General, Air Force
2014 Paul K. Carlton, Jr., MD, Lt. Gen., United States Air Force (Ret.)
2015 Dale P. Sandler, PhD, Senior Investigator, Epidemiology Branch/Chronic Disease Epidemiology Group, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences
2016 Karen Midthun, MD, Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
2017 Janine Austin Clayton, MD, Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health and Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health, National Institutes of Health; and Patrick Conway, MD, MSc, Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality and Chief Medical Officer, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Governor or Statewide Elected Official

1989 William Donald Schaefer, Governor, Maryland
1993 Brereton C. Jones, Governor, Kentucky
1994 Mike Leavitt, Governor, Utah
1995 Parris Glendening, Governor, Maryland
1996 Pierre Howard, Lieutenant Governor, Georgia
1997 George Pataki, Governor, New York, Mike Moore, Attorney General, Mississippi
1998 Howard Dean, MD, Governor, Vermont
1999 Christine Todd Whitman, Governor, New Jersey
2000 Mel Carnahan, Governor, Missouri
2001 Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General, Connecticut
2002 John Oxendine, Commissioner of Insurance and Fire Safety, Georgia
2004 Jeb Bush, Governor, State of Florida
2005 Drew Edmondson, JD, Attorney General, State of Oklahoma
2006 Susan Combs, Commissioner, Texas Department of Agriculture, Joe Manchin, Governor, State of West Virginia
2008 Jodi Rell, Governor, State of Connecticut
2009 Rick Perry, Governor, State of Texas
2010 John Baldacci, Governor, State of Maine, Sandy Praeger, Commissioner, Kansas Insurance Department
2013 Anthony Brown, Maryland Lieutenant Governor

Notes and References

Web site: Dr. Nathan Davis Awards for Outstanding Government Service. American Medical Association. en. 2018-07-05.
Web site: Past Recipients of the Nathan Davis Awards. American Medical Association. 2018-07-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20180705150619/https://www.ama-assn.org/sites/default/files/media-browser/20170317_NathanDavisWinners.pdf. 2018-07-05. dead.