Excerpted from the WATSONIAN NEWSLETTER - February 7, 2007

Gladys H. Reynolds, PhD, MS Senior Mathematical Statistician - Office of the Director, Office of Strategy and Innovation, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. Please join us in celebrating an outstanding career in federal service
               Friday, February 23, 2007 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Roybal Campus, Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications Center, Auditorium A.

After 41 years of outstanding federal service, Dr. Gladys H. Reynolds will be retiring from CDC on January 3, 2007. Gladys joined CDC in 1960 as a Mathematical Statistician and an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in the Statistics Section of CDC's Epidemiology Branch. She received her undergraduate training in history and political science, mathematics, and education from Yankton College in South Dakota; obtained her Masters degree in the field of statistics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. She also was on the faculty in the Department of Biometry and Biostatistics at Emory from 1965 to 1967 and then received a National Institutes of Health Special Research Fellowship. She received a PhD in biometry with a minor in Biostatistics at Emory University. She was recruited to work at CDC after receiving her Masters degree in statistics.

During her tenure at CDC, Gladys has held the positions of Mathematical Statistician and Unit Chief, in the Statistics Section of CDC's Epidemiology Branch, Chief, Research Statistics Sections, Operational Research Branch, and Chief, Research and Evaluation Statistics Section, Evaluation and Statistical Services Branch, Division of Venereal Disease Control, Chief, Evaluation and Statistical Services Branch, Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Center for Prevention Services, and Mathematical Statistician for the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Reynolds was the first woman and the first statistician to serve as the head of a Statistics Branch at the CDC. As Chief of the Evaluation and Statistical Services Branch, Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and as Senior Statistician in the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, her contributions included extensive collaborative work on major public health problems, especially the health of women and minorities. At CDC, Dr. Reynolds is the only woman to have served as both an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer (EIS) and as a Supervisory Public Health Advisor, pioneering these roles for women.

Dr. Reynolds’ CDC Career has been characterized by exceptional service, leadership, and outstanding achievements that are a model of commitment to excellence. She was instrumental in helping to develop student training programs for minorities such as Project IMHOTEP. She chaired both the first CDC Tribal Consultation Policy Work Group (1996-1998) and the first CDC Tribal Colleges and Universities Work Group, (1997-1998). She has authored numerous journal articles, received a host of honors and awards and been an invited speaker in numerous national and international meetings. In 1987, she organized and chaired the first CDC awards committee for the best paper written by a statistician or statisticians. She organized and chaired the first and third CDC Statistical Symposiums. She chaired the 1991 Annual Meeting of the American College of Epidemiology on the topic, “The Morbidity/Mortality Gap: Is it Race or Racism?” and was the Guest Editor for a Special Volume in the Annuals of Epidemiology on the proceedings in 1993. She was the first statistician in the CDC Atlanta campus to be elected a Fellow in the American Statistical Association (1985) and is still the only statistician in the CDC Atlanta campus to have been elected to the International Statistical Institute (1986).

Dr. Reynolds has always been especially concerned about the biases that women and minorities face in professional and management positions and has served as a role model for statisticians and women in management positions and in professional societies. As a statistician, her work on mathematical modeling of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was among the earliest in the area and the statistical work that continued under her direction on modeling, including simulation models and time series has been vital in clarifying relationships between risk factors, incidence and prevalence of disease, and control methods. In addition to her work in modeling, she was involved in the design, analysis and interpretation of clinical trials and program evaluation.

She has also served as an anchor for CDC organizations and committees. She served as President of the Association of Executive Women, and was an organizing member of the association. As a member of the CDC Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Council and Chair of the Affirmative Action Committee, Dr. Reynolds developed two models: the first estimated the approximate percent of positions that must be filled by each race-sex category to meet parity (e.g., workforce or population representation) in a certain number of years, and the second model projected the number of persons needed in each race-sex category in year 1, 2, ...(N-1) to ensure progress toward the goal. In the American Statistical Association (ASA), she served on the Board of Directors, held many positions and served on many committees.

She received the CDC Award for Contributions to the Achievement of Women in 1986. For her efforts and scientific achievements, she was awarded the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. In 1999, she received the ASA Founders Award for longstanding service to the Biopharmaceutical and Statistics in Epidemiology Sections and to many ASA Committees, and for leadership in advancing women and minorities in the professions. In 2004, Dr. Reynolds was awarded the Elizabeth L. Scott Award by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies, including ASA, International Biometric Society-Eastern North American Region and Western North American Region, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and the Statistical Society of Canada. The award was presented for her outstanding leadership and commitment to the field of Biostatistics/Epidemiology, to national and international health, and to the promotion of women and underrepresented groups to the full potential of their roles in statistics and public health management and professional society positions. These are just a few of her many awards and honors.

In retirement, Dr. Reynolds plans to spend time with family and friends, travel, and walk on the beach. As well, she will continue her commitment to improving the health and well being of all people in all countries.

If you would like to contribute to the retirement celebration, have letters, notes, photographs, and/or cards for a memory book, or have any questions, please contact the following individuals before February 9, 2007: 
        Karen Harris Bouye      Sarah Berry     Judith Wellen

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