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William B. Bunn III, MD, JD, MPH
We honor this remarkable leader, mentor and good colleague and friend to so many……“Dr. Bill” was a seminal figure in the emerging field of Health and Productivity Management, and a key member of the Institute for Health and Productivity Management’s (IHPM) original “brain trust” from its founding in 1997. He founded the IHPM’s peer-reviewed journal (IJHP) in 2006 and remained its Editor-in-Chief until his passing. After retirement from his ‘unique-in-the-world’ role as Navistar International’s Vice President of Health, Safety, Productivity & Security (1995 – 2012) he also became IHPM’s Consulting Global Medical Director, as well as maintaining his own international consulting practice and teaching at the Medical University of South Carolina.
It would be difficult to overstate the contributions Dr. Bill Bunn made to the fields of occupational health and occupational medicine, as well as the new field of health and productivity that he helped to establish. The list of health issues on which he could accurately be deemed an expert is longer than this page can accommodate; his medical mind was encyclopedic, and his record of published research studies based on actual workplace health program outcomes is without peer.
Dr. Bill’s work educated and motivated countless others worldwide, while his life touched and encouraged so many other lives. He is one of those rare “irreplaceables” who comes along in each generation, and while words like “icon,” “legend,” “visionary,” and “guru” are overused today, they appeared in many of the testimonials from Bill’s colleagues and – when applied to him – they fit.
Brilliance and congeniality are not often found together in the same person, but they existed together in “Dr. Bill” – whom we already miss more than merely words can express. To honor this remarkable leader, mentor and good colleague and friend to so many, starting this year of 2021 IHPM’s Annual President’s Award will become the Dr. William B. Bunn III Award for Global Leadership in Health and Productivity Management – in recognition of someone whose entire career was worthy of such an award.