Awards

Bicentennial Medal - 2019

About Les Beitsch

Leslie (Les) M. Bietsch received a B.A. in chemistry from Emory University and an M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine. He completed an internship at the Medical University of South Carolina, and received a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Bietsch’s relationship with Indiana University has progressed throughout his professional career, and his collaborative research and participation in advisory panels with IU’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health has been significant in advancing public health perspectives.

Beitsch is a professor of behavioral sciences and social medicine at the College of Medicine at Florida State University. While focusing on health policy and public health, he also serves as department chair of behavioral sciences and social medicine. Beitsch is additionally affiliated with the Center for Medicine and Public Health. Prior positions of leadership include serving as the commissioner of health for the state of Oklahoma, and for over a decade, Beitsch held multiple positions within the Florida Department of Health, most recently Deputy Secretary. His research on medicine and public health collaboration and coordination, health systems quality improvement and development, as well as the health impact of policy implementation has been published extensively in multiple public health journals,

Beitsch’s service on numerous advisory boards and expert panels is extensive. To name a few, he is on the board of directors for the Public Health Foundation, the national advisory council of Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, the board of directors for the Florida Medical Practice Plan, the tobacco advisory committee for the Florida Department of Health, and the national advisory panel for the Quality Improvement in Public Health Practice Exchange. He serves on the survey subcommittee for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Public Health Policy committee, and the national steering committee on hospitals and the public's health, for the American Hospital Association’s Health Research and Education Trust. Beitsch has received many honors and awards during his career, including the Theodore R. Ervin Award for Outstanding Service from the Public Health Foundation; the Putting Prevention into Practice Award from the Oklahoma State Medical Association; the Presidential Award from the Florida Public Health Association, and the Lifetime Appreciation Award from the University of South Florida/Tampa General Hospital Infectious Disease Center. In 2019, Beitsch was awarded Indiana University’s Bicentennial Medal, in recognition of his distinguished contributions to health and public service.