YOUR ASSOCIATION
IN MEMORIAM
RADM John G. Todd RADM John G. Todd, DrPH, passed away on February 6, 2025. Todd was a giant in the environmental health profession, and his career in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) spanned almost four decades. He was dedicated to the field of environmental health and comprehensive health- care administration, and he enjoyed collaborating with the communities he worked with to protect them from environmental health hazards and risks. He was commissioned in 1957 and was assigned to the Indian Health Ser-
Away from work, Todd enjoyed so many things throughout his life—fishing, antiquing, woodworking, and so much more. His generosity, laughter, and stories about the adventurous life he lived will be remembered and shared for years to come. He was a person of God, family, and country. He took great pride in being a patriotic American. Everyone who knew him knew he bled red, white, and blue. The following is an excerpt from Todd’s 1980 Walter F. Snyder Award brochure: “In 1954, as a trainee sanitarian, John Grey Todd attended a meet- ing of environmentalists in Toledo, there to become a friend and lifelong admirer of Walter F. Snyder. In the following year, as chief sanitarian of Fayette County, Ohio, he continued his acquaintance during visits with Snyder in Ann Arbor while NSF was still housed in the University of Michigan School of Public Health. These early contacts with the dynamic executive from NSF contained the ori- gins of Todd’s ongoing philosophy that environmentalists should be strongly involved in the application of voluntary standards. For 5 years, Todd labored mightily with the traditional concerns of the rural sanitarian. He was the champion of water quality at thousands of village faucets and country wells. He was the tireless inspector of challenges in waste disposal, ground pollution, and stream pollution. He was the case-by-case investigator of situations involving milk, meat, and food sanitation; of industrial hygiene; of rodent control and rabies control; and of air quality surveillance. What is more, he was not just the chief sanitarian—he was the only sanitarian. His accomplishments and professional diligence led to the award of a scholarship from the Ohio Department of Health, which enabled him to earn his MPH at the University of North Carolina. In 1959, he was selected for responsibilities as a district sanitar- ian, where he served as a consultant on all environmental health matters in a nine-county area. This broadening experience led to his appointment as supervisory sanitarian in the Jackson-Vinton County Health Departments, where his administration became a model in the training program for sanitarians of the Ohio Depart- ment of Health. Since 1957, John Todd had held a reserve commission as an o- cer of the U.S. Public Health Service. In 1962, he was called to active duty as a field sanitarian in the division of Indian Health at Winslow, Arizona. It was in this capacity that he developed his aptitude for finding solutions to the special problems of under- privileged cultural groups. Recognizing these capabilities, USPHS moved him to a larger command in 1964, appointing him chief of environmental health services in the Oklahoma City area. Todd’s remarkable ability to empathize with all people has cre- ated a strong sense of unity among members of the various profes- sional categories. Since 1974, Todd has also functioned as chief sanitarian of USPHS, and in August 1977, he was promoted to the rank of assistant surgeon general.”
vice (IHS), where he served for 24 years in several dierent geographic locations, including Arizona, Maryland, and Okla- homa. In 1970, he was appointed as the director of the Division of Program Operations for IHS, and in 1974, he was appointed the 2nd liaison ocer for the Sanitarian Category. During his 12-year tenure, this title was changed to the chief sanitarian o- cer of the USPHS Commissioned Corps. At the pinnacle of his career in 1977, he was promoted to assistant surgeon general, the first sanitarian to achieve this rank. Todd retired from the USPHS Commissioned Corps in 1986. A leader in the profession, he received both the Walter S. Man- gold Award from the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) and the Walter F. Snyder Award from NEHA and NSF. He served as president of NEHA from 1965–1966. Todd understood that the association could only be as strong as its members and he encouraged all members to be active and to give their time. In his final President’s Message column in the May/June 1966 Journal of Environmental Health , he stated, “Remember that this is your Asso- ciation and that it demands the continual eorts of each and every member if it is to become the far-reaching dynamic force for our profession which we all want it to be.” These words still ring true, close to six decades later. To honor Todd’s service and contributions, the Environmen- tal Health Ocer Professional Advisory Committee named their highest honor after him—the John G. Todd Award. The award recognizes an exemplary senior-level environmental health profes- sional for significant career contributions in achieving the USPHS mission of improving the nation’s health through the practice of environmental health.
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Volume 88 • Number 1
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