Elizabeth T. H. “Terry” Fontham, dean of the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, became the first non-physician elected president of the American Cancer Society on Nov 20. Fontham, who was inducted during the society’s national assembly meeting in New York City, is also the first epidemiologist and the third female to serve as president in the Society’s 96-year history.”I am both humbled and honored to be in this position,” Fontham said. “I am going to make every effort to do more and do well.”The American Cancer Society, a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer, has about 3 million volunteers, Fontham said. She started volunteering for the Society in 1981 and hasn’t stopped since. “Dr. Terry Fontham has dedicated a great deal of her life to fighting cancer, and she has made enormous and life-saving contributions,” said Dr. Larry Hollier, chancellor of the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans. “We are very proud that the American Cancer Society has recognized Dr. Fontham’s strong leadership ability, something we have had the privilege to know firsthand for many years.”An LSU alumna, Fontham received her doctorate from the Tulane University School of  Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She has been a member of the LSU Health Sciences Center faculty since 1980. In addition to being dean of the LSUHSC New Orleans School of Public Health, Fontham is a professor of epidemiology and pathology in the LSUHSC School of Medicine. Fontham’s primary research is in cancer epidemiology with a focus on the origins of tobacco- and diet-related cancers. “[It’s] an honor and a huge accomplishment for Louisiana as a state and New Orleans,” said Terry Birkhoff, vice president of the Louisiana American Cancer Society. In addition to being associate director of the LSUHSC Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center and senior consultant epidemiologist to the Louisiana Office of Public Health, Fontham has served on the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Counselors and has been a coauthor of the Surgeon General’s Report.
 
 
 
—- Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]