Reece and Meister honored for their service to their denomination and the healthcare profession in the United States and abroad
Two Seventh-day Adventist physicians were awarded the denomination’s Health Ministries Medal of Distinction for their decades of extraordinary service to the Church and in the communities they have served.
Dr. E. Albert Reece, distinguished professor and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Dr. Harold Lowell Meister, Jr., were awarded during Spring Meeting, an annual meeting of executive officers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church last month.
Reece, dean of Maryland’s School of Medicine, serves as a professor at the university’s departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medicine, and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. He is also member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
In October 2014, Reece was appointed as an honorary associate Health Ministries director for the Seventh-day Adventist world church. In his role as honorary associate director, he consults for the department on chronic diseases. The key, he said, is to focus on breaking the chain of inter-generational rates of obesity and diabetes among mothers and their children.
A native of Jamaica, Reece has had an impressive academic career in research, teaching and administration. He received postgraduate training at Columbia University and Yale University. At his home church, he enjoys participating in Sabbath School, and co-chairing the health ministries outreach.
Dr. Harold Lowell Meister, Jr. is a retired physician with decades of optometry expertise.
In 1959, Meister and his wife, Dellene, moved to Nowata Oklahoma, where he started a practice that served the community for 54 years. He was also a member of the Nowata Chamber of Commerce, where he served as president for one year. He also served the Nowata community as a member of the Nowata School Board.
For more than 50 years, Meister served the denomination through various roles, including his time on the Oklahoma Conference Committee and Southwestern Union Conference Committee.
Meister also served as the assistant director of visual affairs of the Health Ministries Department for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As Assistant Director of Visual Affairs, he visited eye clinics in 6 African countries where he acted as an advisor to eye care professionals who operated the facilities.
Meister attended Southern Missionary College near Chattanooga Tennessee. He also attended Southern College of Optometry in Memphis Tennessee where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in optical science and a doctor of optometry.
Both of the honorees were surprised to be presented with the award. Their highest service and vigorous energy remains dedicated to the God they love, and to the Church they cherish.