Bamberg Professional Receives First Award in Honor of Dr. Murray L. Vincent

Posted on 4/8/08

Bamberg Professional Receives First Award in Honor of Dr. Murray L. Vincent

During its 2008 Summer Institute, the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (SC Campaign) announced Michelle Thomas Nimmons as the first recipient of the Murray L. Vincent Outstanding Prevention Professional Award. Given in honor of the late Dr. Murray Vincent, the award is the highest and most distinguished honor given by the SC Campaign. The annual award recognizes an individual who has significantly impacted the prevention of adolescent pregnancy in South Carolina while exemplifying the characteristics of the award’s namesake.

Among his accomplishments, Dr. Vincent is credited with creating the first undergraduate health education degree in South Carolina as well as all of the health education master's and doctoral degrees at the University of South Carolina. He was a founder of the South Carolina Association for Health Education in 1972, serving as its president in 1981. Dr. Vincent was an American Association of Health Education Scholar and was inducted into the Health Education Hall of Fame in 2002. The success of his work in teen pregnancy prevention has been widely published. His signature effort was started in Bamberg County in 1982 and 26 years later has resulted in one the most successful school-community teen pregnancy prevention programs ever created. In the early 1990s, Dr. Vincent worked to help create the SC Council on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, now known as the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. He also encouraged the creation of Community Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention programs in all 46 counties of South Carolina.

Having made a significant impact on the youth of South Carolina in Bamberg County, Michelle Thomas Nimmons, director of the Bamberg County School/Community Sexual Risk Reduction Project for Teens (Denmark-Olar Teen Life Center), was honored as the first recipient of the award. The Denmark-Olar Teen Life Center is a nationally recognized school based program that was established in 1982 as a collaborative effort between USC School of Public Health and the citizens of Bamberg County. The comprehensive abstinence-based program provides age appropriate sexuality education to youth ages 8-19, includes a community awareness campaign, quarterly newsletter, monthly parent and child education sessions and trains peer educators. Michelle is a Winthrop College graduate with a degree in Family/Child Development and Social Work. She also serves as Senior Program Consultant for the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

As the honoree, Michelle received a $500 stipend to continue her prevention work and a lifetime scholarship to the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy’s annual conference.

Forrest Alton, Executive Director of the SC Campaign, believes the award is an appropriate way to honor the legacy of Dr. Vincent. “Dr. Vincent played a major role in the formation and development of what is now recognized as one of the leading state and local teen pregnancy prevention efforts in the country. He was a leader in the field whose work changed the lives and life outcomes for countless youth. This year’s award winner, Michelle Nimmons, has made a similar impact in Bamberg County and is more than deserving of the highest recognition offered by the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.”