2020 National Environmental Health Association Presents the Joe Beck Award for Educational Contributions
COLUMBIA, SC– (July 10, 2020) —The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) is pleased to announce that Dr. Milton Morris is the recipient of the 2020 Joe Beck Educational Contribution Award. This award is given annually to a NEHA member for an educational contribution or training tool designed for the advancement, and professional development, of environmental health professionals.
“We applaud Dr. Morris for over 31 years of exemplary research, dedication, and service to Benedict College,” said Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, President and CEO of Benedict College. “His innovative style of teaching has positively impacted generations of Benedict College scholars.”
The innovation created by Dr. Morris, Director of the Environmental Health Science Program at Benedict College, consisted of providing creative education and training to hundreds of African American students. The students received electronic training on zoonotic diseases and environmental disasters. The innovative part of the project consisted of identifying motivated students who extended their learning by researching specific zoonotic diseases, emerging pathogens, and environmental disasters and presenting their findings through competitively evaluated research presentations.
The creativity implemented by Dr. Morris and his colleagues promoted a positive impact as students received environmental health education on methods to reduce the chances of disease vectors infesting environments. Students learned strategies to help the environment that included using preventive biodegradable larviciding agents such as oils to reduce mosquito breeding, draining infected stagnated water and removing containers and materials from at-risk environments. Students also learned ways to reduce or ameliorate harmful impacts to the environment from disasters.
Dr. Milton Morris has served as the Director of Environmental Health Science at Benedict College in South Carolina since 1989. He has been a member of NEHA for 32 years. Dr. Morris served in the United States Army and has held leadership positions in several professional organizations. He retired from the Medical Service Corps of the Army Reserves with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He has written numerous articles and reports for both civilian and military publications.
“Joe would be so happy to see Dr. Morris get this award. He is so fitting of the award,” commented Sue Beck, wife of Joe Beck.
About Benedict College
Founded in 1870 by a woman, Bathsheba A. Benedict, Benedict College is a private co-educational liberal arts institution with over 2,100 students enrolled in its 25 baccalaureate degree programs. Defying trends, Benedict College maintains an equal male and female student population. This Midlands HBCU welcomes students from all 46 counties in South Carolina, 30 states across America, and 26 countries around the world.
Benedict offers several high-demand fields of study in STEM, Cyber Security, Mass Communication, Sport Management, Business Administration, Engineering, Computer Science, Biology, and Education. The College also has a diverse faculty of which 80 percent are full-time, and 60 percent hold doctorates or the equivalent.
Over the past ten years, three out of five Benedict College graduates have attended professional or graduate schools. There are over 17,000 proud Benedict Tigers throughout the nation. Benedict College has been a community leader for over 150-years and is a significant contributor to South Carolina and the region. Contributing $130 million and 1,218 jobs in total local and annual economic impact, a Benedict graduate working full-time throughout his or her working life can expect to earn $1.1 million in additional income because of their Benedict College degree.
The College made front-page news in the spring of 2018 when it became the first South Carolina college to lower its tuition by 26 percent. Cutting tuition drew praise from the Commission on Higher Education, South Carolina’s education oversight body. The commissioner noted that the move Benedict College made should be applauded because it offers families affordability and students greater access to higher education.
Benedict College has been highly regarded and exceptionally ranked for its programs by several academic and traditional publications. For example, Benedict College was ranked as one of the top baccalaureate colleges in the nation by Washington Monthly magazine for creating social mobility and producing cutting-edge scholarship and research. In 2019, Benedict College received the 2019 ACE/ Fidelity Investments Awards for Institutional Transformation and was named the HBCU of the Year by HBCU Digest.
Benedict College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate and masters degrees. Five of the College’s degree programs hold national accreditation: The School of Education, Social Work, Environmental Health Science, Arts and Sciences and the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship.
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