We are pleased to announce the 2020 Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Distinguished Alumni Award winner is Dr. Cheryl “Cheri” Marcham!
Cheri graduated from the MS program in Industrial Hygiene in 1989. That same year, she achieved certification as a CIH and took a position as Environmental Health and Safety Officer at OUHSC. She continued to take graduate courses and earned a PhD in Industrial Hygiene in 2004.
She is probably best known for her leadership in occupational health and safety professional organizations at the national level. She was a Director of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), a Director (and now Ambassador) of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP), and she is currently a Director of the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH). Beyond these important governance roles, she is a driving force in educating her fellow professionals through national conference symposia and trade publications on emerging occupational/environmental issues such as e-cigarettes and legalized cannabis.
Alongside her national role as a leader in the industrial hygiene and occupational safety professions, Cheri remains deeply engaged with her peers in Oklahoma. She has served as chair of the department’s Industrial Hygiene Constituent Committee since its inception in 2006, providing guidance to the OU MS program that has helped it to sustain its ABET accreditation and NIOSH training grant funding. She advises and champions local sections of the AIHA, including our own Oklahoma local section. She has helped bring nationally prominent experts to speak at Oklahoma AIHA conferences.
Finally, in her own professional life, Cheri is a role model for OEH students. She attained professional certifications and actively promotes certification as validation of professional expertise. As a full-time practitioner for more than 25 years, she provided field practice opportunities for OEH students and also shared her applied knowledge through adjunct teaching in our department and other institutions. After retiring from the OUHSC as the director of health and safety she is now a tenure track faculty with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Here is an excerpt from one of her nomination letters:
“Cheri is a devoted friend of the University, a strong and engaged leader of her professional peers, and a tireless promoter of evidence-based public health solution for the state and nation.”
– Dr. Evan Floyd
On behalf of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, please help us congratulate Cheri on her distinguished career success and the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award.