For Immediate Release

Contact: Kate Worster, director of communication, 641-269-3404

Grinnell College presents Alumni Awards: Richard Deyo '71

Physician and University of Washington Medical School professor Richard Deyo was presented with an Alumni Award by Grinnell College on June 2 at the Alumni Assembly held on the College's campus during his 36th reunion. The College's Alumni Council presents these awards annually to graduates who have distinguished themselves by their extraordinary contributions of service to the College, their communities, or their professions.

The College's citation noted Dr. Deyo's conviction that a doctor may have many tools and new technologies to hand, but sometimes using none of them may be best for the patient. It commended him as "a thoughtful critic of the medical system" who has "used his keen analytical skills to help point out medicine's flaws and help improve the system."

A graduate of the College's Class of 1971, where he was President's Medalist, Dr. Deyo went on to earn his M.D. from Penn State and a master's in public health from the University of Washington. While earning his degree at Washington, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, and he was the co-recipient of the Nellie Westerman Prize for Research in Medical Ethics.

Since 1986, Dr. Deyo has been professor of medicine and health services at the University of Washington. He is perhaps best known for co-authoring Hope or Hype: The Obsession with Medical Advances and the High Cost of False Promises, a controversial book that suggests that some highly touted medical "breakthroughs" may be only marginally effective, and might actually be harmful.

Grinnell College, founded in 1846, is a private, residential liberal arts college with some 1500 students, located in Grinnell, Iowa. The College awards the Bachelor of Arts in 25 areas of study, and is consistently ranked among the top 20 liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report.