Nell Harrell Gottlieb
Coordinator, Health Education Program 1992-2007
Assistant Professor 1980-1987
Associate Professor 1987-1995
Professor 1995-2008
Research Professor 2008-2011
Nell Harrell Gottlieb joined the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education in 1980 as an Assistant Professor in Health Education. She came to Texas with a Ph.D. in Sociology from Boston University and with Masters and Undergraduate degrees in Psychology from Emory University in Atlanta. In 1982, Gottlieb became affiliated with the School of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and from then until her retirement as Research Professor in 2011, she held dual appointments in both the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education and the UT School of Public Health. Gottlieb’s research focused on health behavior and health promotion and the translation of research to practice. The bridges she built to the Texas Department of State Health Services and to the School of Public Health proved to be transformative for the Department’s health area. Through her leadership and personal example of excellence, the Health Education program, which Gottlieb directed from 1992 to 2007, assumed a far more visible public health/health behavior focus that led to increased research funding for the program and eventually to a programmatic name change to Health Behavior and Health Education for the disciplinary area. During her years at Texas, Gottlieb was part of grants totaling more than $7 million. She also wrote three books, contributed seven scholarly book chapters, published 85 peer-reviewed articles, and made more than 80 presentations at meetings of learned societies. Gottlieb was also active at both the state and national level in a variety of public health organizations, and she received both the Outstanding Service Award of the Texas Society for Public Health Education in 1984, and the Dorothy Huskey Award for Outstanding Health Education Practice from the Texas Society for Public Health Education for 1990-1991. AustinBusiness Journal even declared her a “Health Care Hero” in 2004. Since her retirement as a faculty member, Gottlieb has launched a second career as a sculptor, working in clay and kiln-formed glass. Her extraordinarily beautiful work can be seen at: www.nellgottlieb.com.
Impact
Visionary leader who transitioned Health Education into a nationally recognized community Public Health program; Internationally recognized researcher in Community Health program development and evaluation; Outstanding leader in Texas Public Health.
Career Highlights
Held joint faculty appointment at School of Public Health, Center for Health Promotion, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Named Faculty Associate,1982; Associate Professor,1986; and Professor, 1998
Served as principle investigator or co-investigator on more than $7 million in research funding for the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education and the School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Co-Author, Heal Thyself—The Consumer’s Guide to Better Health, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Medical Foundation, 1977, (with H. Wechsler)
Co-Author, Introduction to Health Education, Waveland Press, 1995, (with B.G. Simons-Morton and W.H. Greene)
Co-author, Intervention Mapping: Designing Theory and Evidence-Based Health Education Programs, Mayfield Publishing, 2000 (with L.K. Bartholomew, G.S. Parcel, and G. Kok).
Co-author, Program Planning: An Intervention Mapping Approach, Jossey Bass Publishing, 2011, (with L.K. Bartholomew, G.S. Parcel, and G. Kok).
Author or Co-author for 7 book chapters and 85 peer reviewed articles; Delivered 83 academic presentations at meetings of learned societies
Chair, Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section, American Public Health Association, 1998-1999
Chair, Texas Public Health Association, 1983
Honors and Awards
Outstanding Service Award, Texas Society for Public Health Education, 1984
Dorothy Huskey Award for Outstanding Health Education Practice, Texas Society for Public Health Education, 1990-1991
President, Society for Public Health Education, 1990
Chairperson, Intersectional Council, Executive Board Member, American Public Health Association, 2001-2002; 2004-2008
Austin Business Journal Health Care Heroes Award, 2004
