National March of Dimes Honors Dr. John Henry Felix
HONOLULU – Dr. John Henry Felix was honored last week with the March of Dimes Elaine Whitelaw Volunteer Service Award. Given each year to a recipient who exemplifies volunteerism at its best, the award was presented by Dr. Jennifer Howse, national president of the March of Dimes, and LaVerne Council, chairman of the March of Dimes national board, at the March of Dimes annual Volunteer Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia.
Each year, the Whitelaw Award includes a $5,000 grant to the honoree’s home chapter to fund a project chosen by the honoree. This year, the March of Dimes Hawaii Chapter will use the grant for a prematurity prevention project chosen by Dr. Felix. The Whitelaw Award is the March of Dimes’ most prestigious volunteer honor. Created in 1990, it recognizes the outstanding volunteer leadership of Elaine Whitelaw, who contributed more than five decades of leadership, energy, vision and service to the March of Dimes and whose dedication to volunteerism gave momentum to the volunteer movement in the United States.
“We are delighted to see this national recognition for one of our most steadfast and almost certainly our longest-serving volunteer,” said Carmella Hernandez, the March of Dimes’ state director for Hawaii. “Dr. Felix has contributed more than seven decades of leadership, energy, vision and service to the March of Dimes since the organization’s founding by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”
In his acceptance remarks upon receiving the award, Dr. Felix said he was probably one of only a few living individuals who could claim continuous involvement in the March of Dimes since its founding in 1938. “I was eight years old at the time and was an enthusiastic dime collector through grade school, high school and college,” he recalled.
That was just the beginning of a lifetime commitment to the March of Dimes. Throughout his career Dr. Felix encouraged all his employers to get involved with the March of Dimes. Now chairman, president and CEO of the Hawaii Medical Assurance Association (HMAA), Dr. Felix has long served on the board of the Hawaii Chapter, of which he is Chair Emeritus. He also chaired the March of Dimes’ national Board of Trustees, the first Hawaii resident to head a major national health agency. He also founded its national Office of Volunteers. Dr. Felix was the first recipient of the March of Dimes’ National Lifetime Achievement Award (1995) and of its President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Award. He was instrumental in developing the annual Governors’ Ball, which has raised more than $5 million since 1996. As active as ever, he now recruits notable and influential community leaders who are able and willing to bring additional resources to further the work of the March of Dimes so that one day all babies will be born healthy.
As chair of the March of Dimes’ national Board of Trustees, Dr. Felix also had the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Jonas Salk – who developed the first vaccine against polio, the conquest of which was the March of Dimes’ original goal – and help him create the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1960. He worked with Dr. Salk in making it one of the most prestigious biological research institutions in the world and has served as the Institute’s chair, trustee, chair of its International Council, and interim president and CEO. He also recruited Nobel laureate Dr. Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA, to succeed him. Today, he remains involved as the Salk Institute’s chair and trustee emeritus and with its International Council.
About the March of Dimes:
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. Premature birth touches more than 500,000 families every year throughout the United States and 2,500 families every year in Hawaii. The Hawaii Chapter of the March of Dimes works toward preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
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Pictured in photo 0652 is Dr. John Henry Felix; Dr. Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes; and Carmella Hernandez, the March of Dimes’ state director for Hawaii.
Pictured in photo 3 1176 is Dr. Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes; John Henry Felix; and the chairman of the March of Dimes national board LaVerne Council, D.B.A., Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Johnson & Johnson.