Dr. Hans Diehl Inducted Into The North American Vegetarian Society Hall of Fame

Giving speeches is nothing new for Dr. Hans Diehl. A lifetime devoted to spreading a message of health and hope through simple lifestyle changes has taken him around the globe. He’s confidently strode onto stages and in front of cameras countless times, passionately delivering his health message with trademark humor and charm. But on Thursday, July 9, 2015, it was a humble Dr. Diehl who made a very different speech to the ones that have defined his life’s work as he accepted the induction into the NAVS hall of fame, an elite club that honors the most forward thinking people in plant-based eating, among them Mahatma Gandhi, T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell Esselstyn and Howard Lyman. "Because of these honorees, millions of people in our world have had their eyes, minds and hearts opened. Today, we’re blessed of living at a time when many people fit this bill, and that’s why it can be a challenge to choose just one recipient a year,” said NAVS board member Maribeth Abrams. She went on to say that this year, the Board felt that it was important to give proper recognition to Dr. Diehl’s work alongside other great doctors previously inducted into the Hall of Fame. The honor is one of the many honors Dr. Diehl has collected in a life devoted to empowering others to take control of their health. In 1988, he created the CHIP with the aim of making this powerful knowledge accessible not to the few, but to thousands. Almost 30 years later, more than 70,000 CHIP graduates in many countries have learned how to take control of their health through the Complete Health Improvement Program. Dr. Diehl’s Dynamic Living and Health Power books (co-authored with Aileen Ludington, MD) have spread the word with over 2 million copies in circulation published in 25 languages. His expertise and passion have made the difference in helping people to better understand the amazing benefits of a whole-foods, plant-based diet. For more than two decades, the North American Vegetarian Society has been honoring those who have made a particularly significant contribution to the advancement of vegetarianism with induction into its Vegetarian Hall of Fame. The exclusive list of 25 inductees includes recipients from the fields of medicine and dietetics to filmmaking and print journalism and to personal training and education. Dr. Diehl and his wife Lily (maiden name Lily Pan) have lived in Loma Linda since 1972. Diehl is a clinical professor of preventive medicine at the school of medicine. He is the founder of CHIP (Complete Health Improvement Program) and the Lifestyle Medicine Institute headquartered in Loma Linda, now both owned by the Sanitarium Company of Australia. He is a graduate of Loma Linda University's school of Public Health (DrHSc, MPH 1975), while Dr. Lily Pan Diehl just celebrated 43 years of running her Lily Diehl Music Study, teaching primarily piano. They have two children: Byron, an orthodontist in Redlands, and Carmen Thieszen, a psychologist living in Fort Collins, Colo.