Ithaca College

Planned Parenthood has awarded its 2011 APPLE (Affiliate Planned Parenthood Leaders in Education) Awards for outstanding contributions to the field of sex education. A press release announcing the awards from Planned Parenthood Federation of America states "This year’s top award went to Lis Maurer, program director for the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Education, Outreach and Services at Ithaca College. Maurer took home the prestigious Mary Lee Tatum Award for best exemplifying the qualities of an ideal sexuality educator.   Her outstanding work on sexual orientation, gender identity, disability issues, and HIV/AIDS has made her a go-to source for questions on sexuality. Under Maurer’s leadership, Ithaca College was named one of the 100 best campuses in the nation for LGBT students. Maurer — who previously worked at Planned Parenthood of Delaware — is the founding director of the center."

The Mary Lee Tatum Award is the only award for which people outside of the Planned Parenthood family are eligible, and previous awardees including former US Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, and Dr. Michael Carrera of the Children's Aid Society and Professor Emeritus of Health Sciences at Hunter College. Mary Lee Tatum was a sexuality educator who taught one of the first comprehensive sexuality programs in a public school. A role model, trailblazer and a consummate professional sexuality educator, this award in her name recognizes those sexuality educators who contribute the same dedication and excellence to the field.

The annual awards were presented during the April 2011 Planned Parenthood National Conference in Washington, DC. Planned Parenthood has the largest network of sex education providers in the country, reaching more than 1.2 million parents and teens annually, and training more than 80,000 professionals.