News Release

Blood pressure educator Ed Rocella receives Michigan SPH Romani Award.

November 16, 2004, press release from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

The Michigan School of Public Health Alumni Society Board of Governors has chosen Ed Roccella, MPH '69, as the 2004 recipient of the Romani Award. Named for Professor Emeritus John Romani, the award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated outstanding career accomplishments.

Ed Rocella Roccella is coordinator of National High Blood Pressure Education Program at the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a post he's held since 1982. The author of more than a hundred articles in scientific journals and textbooks, Roccella has received both the National Institutes of Health Director’s Award and the HealthTrac Foundation Award. He has a PhD ('77) from the UM School of Education.

“Ed Roccella exemplifies the spirit of the Romani Award,” says Susan Wozenski, JD, MPH ’77, vice chair of the Department of Family and Community Health at the University of Maryland and a member of the SPH Alumni Board of Governors. “He’s been a leader on the national level in high blood pressure control, a consensus builder, a person who embodies all of the training that the School of Public Health provides for its students. He’s also been a tireless advocate for the school, for its students and its future.”

Rocella says he was surprised to learn he had won the award. "John Romani was the quintessential professor. His lectures were clear, brilliant, and motivating. More important, he’s a gentleman who earned my deep respect and admiration. I never thought I merited this great honor."

Reflecting further on his years at Michigan SPH, Rocella recalls, "There are some very special professors there who nurtured, counseled, or encouraged me, people whom I’ll never forget. Some of them are no longer living, but they will always be with me. Michigan had a feeling of family, of belonging and caring. I wanted to emulate people like Scott Simonds, John Romani, Larry Berlin, Mabel Rugen, Bob Bowman, Sy Axelrod, Myron Wegman, and Rashid Bashshur. I can easily recall their names and much of what they taught after 30 years."

John Romani, together with Michigan SPH Dean Noreen Clark, presented the award to Rocella on November 9, 2004, at an honorary dinner in Washington, D.C. An interview with Rocella appears in the Fall/Winter 2004 issue of Findings magazine from Michigan SPH.

Contact: Terri Mellow, Michigan SPH Director of Communications
Phone: (734) 764-8094
E-mail: twm@umich.edu