Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State expert on health risks posed by secondhand smoke is being honored by the state for outstanding work contributing to cancer prevention.
An associate research professor at the university's nationally recognized Social Science Research Center, Robert C. McMillen recently received the Prevention of Cancer in Mississippi Award during the first Empowering Communities for a Healthy Mississippi Summit.
Gov. Haley Barbour and State Health Officer Brian W. Amy were among featured speakers for the Jackson program co-sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Health's Office of Preventive Health and the Mississippi Chronic Illness Coalition.
McMillen was among a group honored for cancer-prevention work in their respective fields during a MCIC-hosted awards dinner on the opening day of the three-day event.
"This honor is in recognition of his leadership in getting Starkville to pass a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance," said SSRC director Arthur Cosby, who also is William L. Giles Distinguished Professor at MSU.
"Dr. McMillen, with other scientists in the SSRC, also has developed a social climate approach to the study of tobacco control in America," he added.
McMillen has developed a national reputation as one of the leading authorities on the social and cultural aspects of secondhand smoke. Recently, he was appointed to a prestigious committee of the Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence for Children, a Chicago-based research arm of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
A graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., McMillen received a master's degree in experimental psychology from MSU. He also holds a doctorate in social psychology from the University of Georgia.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Dr. McMillen at 662-325-2742 or robert.mcmillen@ssrc.msstate.edu; or Dr. Cosby at 325-7127 or art.cosby@ssrc.msstate.edu.