Dr. Dora Anne Mills to Receive Lightship Award
Maine's Chief Health Officer Recognized for Dedication to Health Issues in Maine - 10/7/2005
Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Bureau of Health and Maine's chief health officer, will receive the Lightship Award from Maine Public Relations Council at its annual conference on Friday, October 7. The conference, scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to 6 p.m., will be held at the Eastland Park Hotel in Portland. Mills' award will be presented at 1:15 p.m.The Lightship Award is presented each year to an individual outside the public-relations field. Recipients are recognized for their ability to interact and successfully communicate with the public and the media. Previous Lightship winners include Angus King, Charlie Eschbach, Kim Block, and Joan Benoit Samuelson.
Dr. Mills has been the state?s chief health officer and director of the Maine Bureau of Health since 1996. Mills has practiced medicine in Africa, Los Angeles, and Farmington, Maine. A passionate advocate for the well being of Maine people, Mills uses her position and communication skills to educate Mainers on some of the state?s most pressing health issues, including smoking, obesity, and poor nutrition.
Dr. Mills' best-known effort is the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine. Under her leadership, the state has undertaken a serious and aggressive campaign to cut smoking rates. Mills is also working on programs to reduce obesity, particularly among young people, and she took on the soda companies last year with an ad campaign that called attention to sodas' contribution to the youth obesity problem.
Now in its 30th year, the Maine Public Relations Council (MPRC) is a professional association of Maine public-relations practitioners. MPRC is dedicated to the professional development of its members and a greater awareness of the role of public relations in the world today. www.meprcouncil.org.