About Us

The Drs. Frank and Mary Calderone City Health Award was initiated in 2009 by their daughter Francesca Calderone-Steichen as a way to honor her parents’ lifelong commitment to the health of the public and specifically the health of the New York City public. It recognizes the achievements of  community-based grassroots organizations working in the the field of public health.

The Mailman School of Public Health is pleased to announce that the first Drs. Frank and Mary Calderone City Health Award was presented to the African Services Committee in May 2011. The inaugural award honors the work of the African Services Committee which provides health, housing, legal, and social services to more than 10,000 immigrants, refugees, and asylees each year with a focus on HIV prevention, testing, care, and advocacy.

About the Award

Dr. Mary Steichen was a newly minted MPH when she began her career under the mentorship of then New York City Deputy Commissioner of Public Health, Dr. Frank Calderone. That professional partnership led to several successful community-based health initiatives, a long marriage, and continuing commitment to both local and global public health issues.

To honor that commitment, a monetary award of $15,000 is given to a local, not-for-profit organization that is doing community-based public health work in one of the five boroughs of New York City. The award will be given annually to an organization that has demonstrated outstanding dedication to grassroots work in the field of public health.

Frank A. Calderone

Born in 1901, Frank A. Calderone was raised and educated in New York City, graduating from Columbia College and earning his MD from New York University. In 1938, after receiving his MPH from Johns Hopkins University, he joined the New York City Department of Health as District Health Officer, embarking on a career in public health that would extend throughout his life.

Dr. Calderone served the City of New York until 1946 when he was named Director of the Headquarters Office of the United Nations interim commission of the World Health Organization (WHO). He was instrumental in shaping the WHO's policies and structure and in raising funds to support its continued operations. He held key positions in the permanent organization, including Chief Technical Officer and New York Office Director. Subsequently, he was appointed Medical Director of the United Nations Secretariat Health Service.

Mary Steichen Calderone

Dr. Mary Steichen Calderone, nicknamed the “grand dame of sex education,” did more than any other individual to convince both the medical profession and the public that human sexuality goes far beyond the sex act. She heralded it as a multifaceted and vital part of a healthy life that should not be hidden under a shroud of secrecy or limited to erotic expression. Dr. Calderone received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College, her MD from the University of Rochester in 1939 and an MPH from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in 1942.

Dr. Calderone served as a school physician for several years in Great Neck, Long Island before becoming the Medical Director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In 1964, she co-founded the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (Siecus) to help teachers, therapists and other professionals establish human sexuality as an integral part of health and health education. Under her leadership, Siecus became the guiding force behind education in human sexuality in schools throughout the United States.