Wholespire Board of Directors Vice Chairman Dr. Megan Weis was recently awarded the Gerry Sue Arnold Alumni Award during the annual hooding ceremony at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health. The award is given to one alumni each year whose work has both made a difference to the public health profession and in the health of an identified community or population.
Dr. Weis has served on the Wholespire board of directors since 2017, and she has contributed vastly to the growth and sustainability of the non-profit organization. In the absence of an executive director, Dr. Weis was part of a team of board members who provided guidance and leadership to the Wholespire staff.
Dr. Weis is a two-time alumna of the Arnold School’s Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior – graduating with a Master of Public Health in 2002 and then a Doctor of Public Health in 2012. Between her degrees, Weis worked for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control ‘s (SC DHEC) Pregnancy and Risk Assessment Monitoring System and Injury and Violence Prevention division.
In 2007 – the same year she began her doctoral studies – Weis co-founded the South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health, where she worked for more than 12 years. In 2020, she joined the UofSC School of Medicine as a research assistant professor and as director of community engagement with the SC Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare. In addition to serving on numerous committees and task forces to improve health throughout the state, Weis has taught many courses as an Arnold School adjunct faculty member.
For her efforts, Weis has been recognized with the Health Education Professional of the Year Award (South Carolina Association for the Advancement of Health Education, 2007), the President’s Award (SC Public Health Association (SCPHA), 2010) for establishing a student forum that later became the student section, and the Lucinda Thomas Award for Outstanding Contributions in Community Health (SCPHA, 2013). In both 2007 and 2017, Weis received SCPHA’s Michael D. Jarrett Excellence in Customer Service Award, and in 2019, she won the James A. Hayne Award and The Voice of Public Health Award from SCPHA.