In recognition of her tireless service to building healthier communities and providing hundreds with power over cancer, Carolyn M. Tucker, Ph.D., has received a 2024 President’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the office of U.S. President Joe Biden.
Tucker, the UF Florida Blue Endowed Chair in Health Disparities Research and a member of the UF Health Cancer Center, received the highest distinction of the award, recognizing more than 4,000 hours of service. The award is founded by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation and led by AmeriCorps in partnership with Points of Light. Tucker received a personalized award and letter from the President’s Office, both signed by Biden.
“Dr. Tucker has totally changed the way many people view their health and has impacted our community in more ways than one,” said Supt. Kenyarda Feathers, pastor of Williams Temple Church of God in Christ in Gainesville who works with Tucker to implement effective health interventions in the community. “There is now a greater awareness of our health and the overall well-being of our community. She is a true pioneer of goodwill and honor. She is a trailblazer in the efforts of health and awareness. Her passion and desire is to see people well and we honor her for that.”
“Her passion and desire is to see people well and we honor her for that.”
Pastor Kenyarda Feathers
Tucker has dedicated her career to developing, implementing, and demonstrating the long-term impact of programs to promote health equity, mental well-being, physical health, and food security in low-income communities in Gainesville and Jacksonville. Her research aims to break down health inequity, promote culturally sensitive health care, and fight obesity, hypertension, and obesity-related cancers. She founded the Health-Smart Behavior Program to promote healthy eating, physical activity, and stress and depression management, and to fight social drivers of poor health like social isolation, food insecurity, and financial insecurity.
As director of the UF Health Cancer Center’s Community-Partnered Cancer Disparities Research Collaborative, or CDRC, Tucker leads a team of faith leaders and researchers working to prevent or reduce cancers among Blacks and others who live in East Gainesville. Through the CDRC, she has organized Power Over Cancer, a series of well-attended gatherings that allow the Cancer Center to engage in a dialogue about cancer prevention, care, and research with the East Gainesville community.
“I am truly grateful to receive the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award from President Biden for two reasons,” Tucker said. “First, it made me reflect on my core belief that our true worth as human beings should be measured by what we do to improve the lives of others. Second, this award reminds me of a lesson from my father, which is to just help others without telling the world about what you have done. This lesson was reinforced in the words of his favor hymn, titled ‘Let the work I’ve done speak for me.’”
Earlier this year, Tucker received the UF Health Cancer Center’s Community Outreach Award in recognition of her excellent contributions to community engagement through the CDRC. This April, she received the Florida Blue Foundation Sapphire Award in recognition of her research, leadership, and commitment to her work, her community, and her field.
Tucker is also director of the UF Health Disparities Research and Intervention Program and the Cancer Control and Population Sciences liaison to community outreach and engagement at the UF Health Cancer Center.
At UF, she is a distinguished alumni professor, a research professor in psychology, and a courtesy professor in community health and family medicine. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Florida Community Health Workers Coalition Inc. and serves as the co-chair of its Research Subgroup.
In the award letter, Biden congratulated Tucker for contributing to the public good and encouraged her to continue to answer the call to serve.
“Throughout our country’s history, the American story has been strengthened by those who combine an optimism about what can be with the resilience to turn that vision into reality,” the letter said. “I know I’m not alone in recognizing that those who are willing to step up and volunteer in service of community and country are essential to the ongoing work of forming our more perfect union.”
The President’s Volunteer Service Award was established in 2002 by President George H.W. Bush during his State of the Union Address and recognizes U.S. citizens who exemplify a high level of humanitarian assistance to their communities and the nation.
Learn more about Dr. Tucker’s research in the video below:
