On November 1st, the AzPHA Board of Directors Student Representative, Dr. Ryann Whealy was presented the Council of Affiliates Outstanding Student Award. And coincidentally, her fellow board member, Rebecca Nevedale, had the honor or presenting the award in her role as Chair of the Council of Affiliates. Congratulations, Ryann, on receiving this prestigious award!
Below are the remarks Rebecca shared about Ryann’s contribution to AzPHA.
“Our next award to present is the Outstanding Student Award, and this one is very special to me because the recipient is mine!
Now Doctor Ryann Whealy is the student representative on the Arizona Public Health Association Board of Directors. Ryann has volunteered her time to support programming efforts for the association including to revitalize and expand academic partnerships. She has contributed to the work of AzPHA through her statewide outreach, student engagement and community connections in Flagstaff, where she attended Northern Arizona University. (Go Lumberjacks!)
Ryann aligned her work with AzPHA during National Public Health Week as she coordinated and moderated “Advocacy Starts Here: Amplifying Voices for Public Health” a live panel featuring a mayor, state policy leaders and public health professionals.
The person who nominated Ryann wrote: ‘Ryann’s leadership, reliability and statewide impact are exceptional. She has shown initiative well beyond her formal responsibilities, helped with infrastructure for future student engagement and extended AzPHA’s reach across Arizona’s diverse regions and institutions…’
And I would add that I’ve (Rebecca Nevedale) been on and off the AzPHA board for at least 15 years, and Ryann has truly been the most engaged and inspirational student we’ve had. It took her a while to see how she could contribute, but once she did, our board benefited greatly. We are a stronger board because of Ryann, and we are better prepared to welcome student representatives in the future. She recently moved to Philly so is the Pennsylvania Affiliate’s member now (well… when her AZ dues expire), but she has left such a legacy in the Grand Canyon state.
It has been an incredible honor to watch Ryann over the last few years – going from a somewhat timid and quiet board member to one that (while still quiet), has figured out how to contribute so greatly and think so forward about our affiliate’s academic relations and student connections. It’s truly a great honor to present our 2025 Outstanding Student Award to Dr. Ryann Whealy.”