The educators of the next generation of scientists and doctors were honored in a flurry of ceremonies celebrating the end of the 2011-12 academic year. Undergraduates, medical students, graduate students, residents and faculty peers from the Pritzker School of Medicine and the Biological Sciences Division voted to honor dozens of faculty members for their contributions as teachers and mentors.
“These faculty have distinguished themselves with their contributions to the University of Chicago, to the Biological Sciences Division, to their students, to their patients and to their communities,” said Kenneth S. Polonsky, dean of the Division of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine and executive vice president of Medical Affairs at the University of Chicago Medicine. “In the junior faculty among the group, we see the promise of the future of the institution; in the senior faculty, we see contributions that have enhanced the quality of work in science and medicine for decades, and that continue to do so.”
Polonsky's comments were made at the Biological Science Division's Second Annual Distinguished Faculty Awards Reception, held on June 12. At the ceremony, Polonsky presented Jerome Klafta, professor of anesthesia and critical care, with the Distinguished Educator and Mentor Award for his achievements in clinical education. In her letter of support for Klafta's award, Pritzker and University alumnus Emily Drennan wrote, “From the moment I started my career, any problem I encounter is met with the question, ‘What would Dr. Klafta do?’ This has never steered me wrong.”
Michael LaBarbera, professor in organismal biology and anatomy, received the Distinguished Educator and Mentor Award for his achievements in undergraduate education. In his nominating letter for LaBarbera's award, Robert Ho, professor and chair of organismal biology and anatomy, wrote, “In his classes, students do not simply learn about biology, they come to love biology.”
At the Divisional Academic Ceremony, held on June 8 at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Melina Hale, associate professor in organismal biology and anatomy, was presented with the Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring. “She has always been notable as a caring educator and effective communicator,” Ho said at the ceremony. “These qualities are evident not only in her teaching, but in her extensive service record to the University.”
In this year's Pritzker School of Medicine awards, Joel Schwab, associate professor in pediatrics, was honored four times. In addition to receiving the Doroghazi Outstanding Clinical Teaching Award and Faculty Physician Peer Role Model Award, Schwab was elected by students as Faculty Marshal for the Divisional Hooding Ceremony and as one of 20 Favorite Faculty.
Joining Schwab as a Pritzker honoree were Husain Sattar, assistant professor in pathology, recipient of the Outstanding Basic Science Teaching Award, and Poj Lysouvakon, assistant professor in pediatrics, who received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, given to a faculty member who demonstrates compassion, empathy and respect, and serves as a role model for students.
The L.D.H. Wood Pre-Clinical Teaching Awards, voted on by medical students who have just completed their second year of education, were awarded this year to Jason Poston, assistant professor in pulmonary and critical care, and Peggy Mason, professor in neurobiology. The Hilger Perry Jenkins Award for excellence in the performance of academic and patient-oriented service by a member of the housestaff went to Jeremy Estrada, resident in medicine.
Other teaching awards given this year at the Medical Center, Biological Sciences Division, and Pritzker School of Medicine include:
Department of Medicine
Pre-clinical Teacher of the Year Award – Jeanne Farnan, assistant professor in medicine (hospital medicine)
Clinical Teacher of the Year Award – Jason Poston, assistant professor in pulmonary and critical care
Medical Resident Teaching Awards:
Todd Stern, assistant professor in medicine (general internal medicine)
Kyle Hogarth, assistant professor in pulmonary and critical care
Gene Kim, assistant professor in medicine (cardiology)
Vineet Arora, associate professor in medicine (general internal medicine)
Postgraduate Teaching Award – Philip Hoffman, professor in hematology/oncology
Outstanding Emergency Medicine Faculty Mentorship Award – Teresita Hogan, assistant professor in medicine
Outstanding Emergency Medicine Faculty Member Clinical Teaching Award – David Beiser, assistant professor in medicine
Arthur H. Rubenstein Mentorship Award - Olufunmilayo Olopade, professor in medicine (hematology/oncology) and human genetics
Department of Surgery
Golden Apple Award, Faculty: Michael Ujiki, clinical assistant professor in surgery
Golden Apple Award, Resident: Eric Grossman, general surgery administrative chief resident
Pritzker School of Medicine
Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism and Excellence in Teaching (Residents):
Patrick Dillon, medicine
Elizabeth Erickson, psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience
Joshuae Gallardo, neurology
Leah Khan, pediatrics
Baddr Shakhsheer, surgery
Melissa Wong, obstetrics and gynecology
Jeremy Wortman, medicine (NorthShore)
Favorite Faculty:
Vineet Arora, associate professor in medicine
Adam Cifu, associate professor in medicine
Jeanne Farnan, assistant professor in medicine
H. Barrett Fromme, assistant professor in pediatrics
Philip Hoffman, professor in medicine
Holly J. Humphrey, professor in medicine and dean for medical education
Aliva Husain, professor in pathology
Elizabeth Kieff, assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience
Michael Marcangelo, assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience
Stephen Meredith, professor in pathology
Anthony Montag, professor in pathology
Kenneth S. Polonsky, Richard T. Crane Distinguished Service Professor in Medicine
Shalini Reddy, associate professor in medicine
Callum Ross, associate professor in organismal biology and anatomy
Husian Sattar, assistant professor in pathology
Joel Schwab, associate professor in pediatrics
Mindy Schwartz, associate professor in medicine
Scott Stern, professor of Medicine
Monica Vela, associate professor in medicine
Ting-Wa Wong, associate professor in pathology
Alpha Omega Alpha Alumni:
Susan Glick,’90, associate professor in medicine
Dennis Groothuis, MD'72, clinical professor in neurology (Northshore)
Alpha Omega Alpha Faculty:
Scott Eggener, assistant professor in surgery
Debra Stulberg, assistant professor in medicine
Alpha Omega Alpha Housestaff:
Anoop Appannagari, medicine
Juan Piantino, medicine
Angela Weingarten, medicine and pediatrics
—Prof. Kunle Odunsi
