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Joseph Augustin LePrince Medal
Joseph A. LePrince was born in Leeds, England, and came to the United States at age six. He received a degree in Civil Engineering from Columbia University. In 1901 he went to Havana to work with Major Gorgas, initially on a 60 day trial contract. First as Assistant to Gorgas, and later as General Inspector of the Department of Sanitation, he played a key role in turning the new discoveries into practical vector control measures. When Gorgas was assigned to the Canal Zone, LePrince accompanied him, where he became “Health Officer of the Strip.” LePrince was the first person to control malaria by
killing of mosquitoes in dwellings. After his outstanding work in the
Canal Zone, LePrince began his service in the U.S. Public Health service
in 1915. During WWI he had charge of malaria control activities around
Army and Navy installations in the United States. In 1923 he went to
Mexico to develop malaria control in the oil fields in that country. He
was a charter member of the National Malaria Committee and a leading
figure in the successful malaria eradication efforts in the southern
U.S. He retired from the Public Health Service in 1939, and died in
1956. The first Joseph Augustin LePrince Medal was awarded in 1951 to
LePrince himself. |
In recognition of
outstanding work in the field of malariology.