Wright State associate professor receives Distinguished Health Educator Service Award

Marietta Orlowski is associate professor of community health at the Boonshoft School of Medicine Center for Global Health and health promotion and education director for the Master of Public Health Program.

The Ohio Public Health Association recognized Marietta Orlowski, Ph.D., associate professor of community health at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Center for Global Health, with its Distinguished Health Educator Service Award at its annual awards dinner on May 10 in Columbus.

Orlowski was recognized for her innovative and sustained contributions to community health education and health education research. She is the health promotion and education director for the Master of Public Health Program at Wright State. She teaches courses in social and behavioral determinants of health and health program planning and evaluation.

She began her career as a health educator in a multispecialty care practice in eastern Kentucky, teaching weight management and smoking cessation classes. She directed community health education for a health care system in southwest Ohio. At Wright State, Orlowski works with graduate students and prepares them to enter the public health field.

Orlowski serves as the project evaluator for OHIO Smarter Lunchrooms, an organization devoted to school nutrition. She and a graduate student developed a blog, OHIO Smarter Lunchrooms, promoting fruit and vegetable consumption. The Ohio Department of Education will present the blog at the 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Conference as an example of social media in public health.

In addition to her peer-reviewed scholarship, Orlowski has published a textbook, “Introduction to Health Behaviors: A Guide for Educators, Practitioners and Managers” (2015, Delmar Cengage Learning). She is a master certified health education specialist and holds a Certified in Public Health designation. She is a member of the Ohio Society for Public Health Education, Ohio Public Health Association, Society of Public Health Education and American Public Health Association. She advises local public health departments, serves on the community benefit subcommittee of Premier Health and is president of the Gamma Alpha Chapter of the public health honor society, Delta Omega.