October 28, 2009

Four Master Scholars Recognized for Their Indelible Mark on Medicine and Countless Generations of Faculty and Students

E. John Rosenwald Jr. Receives Valentine Mott Founders Award for His Ongoing Support of the Medical Center

NYU Langone Medical Center honored four physicians and scientists for lifetime accomplishments in their fields in a special convocation ceremony yesterday. The event marked the eighth Dean's Honors Day held by the Medical Center and was the third year that Master Awards were conferred on distinguished faculty members to acknowledge excellence at the institution. In addition to those receiving Master Awards, faculty members were honored for their appointments to endowed chairs, receiving tenure or promotions, and extramural and intramural distinctions. 

"Dean's Honors Day is about our aspirations for this wonderful institution and about the achievements of the individuals who make our Medical Center what it is," said Robert I. Grossman, MD, dean and CEO of NYU Langone Medical Center. "From just about any perspective you can think of, we are making extraordinary strides in tapping the potential within us, and many of those we honor at this event are leading the way."

This year's Master Awards honorees include:

• Master Clinician: Martin L. Kahn, MD, the Joel E. and Joan L. Smilow Professor of Cardiology since 2002, was honored for his patient-centered work in cardiology. Dr. Kahn has dedicated his career to the training of physicians, the search for new knowledge and the care of the sick. The high standards he sets for himself as a clinician and teacher are a reflection of his belief that he represents not only himself and the Medical Center, but the entire medical profession.

•  Master Educator and Mentor: World-renowned rheumatologist, Gerald Weissmann, MD, professor emeritus of medicine  and research professor of medicine, was honored for his work in rheumatology and inflammation research. With a distinguished 50-year history of teaching at NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Weissmann has trained many of the most accomplished and revered rheumatologists in the world. In 1965, Dr. Weissmann co-discovered and named liposomes, phospholipid vesicles that are used to deliver vaccines, enzymes, or drugs to the body. He is best known for presenting evidence that identified rheumatoid arthritis as an immune complex disease and that crises in systemic lupus erythematosus are provoked by intravascular complement activation.

• Master Researchers: World leaders in the study of tropical and parasitic disease, Ruth Nussenzweig, Doc. en Med., PhD, the C.V. Starr Professor of Medical and Molecular Parasitology, and Victor Nussenzweig, Doc. en Med., PhD, the Herman M. Biggs Professor of Preventive Medicine, were honored for the indelible mark they have left on medical research. The husband-and-wife research team has, since the 1960s, been leaders in malaria research, and their groundbreaking discoveries has paved the way for the development of a human malaria vaccine of proven efficacy that is now undergoing extensive trials in Africa.

In addition to the Master Awards, E. John Rosenwald Jr., currently vice chairman emeritus of JP Morgan Chase, a trustee of NYU, a long-time member and former chairman of NYU Langone Medical Center's Board of Trustees, was conferred with this year's Valentine Mott Founders Award. The award, named for the father of modern surgery and co-founder of NYU School of Medicine, is presented to an individual who has shown exceptional support for the clinical, research and education missions of the Medical Center for more than 25 years.  John has not only shared his time and wisdom with us, he has also provided generous support for numerous Medical Center initiatives including the Pat and John Rosenwald Research Floor at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and together with his wife Pat, he endowed the Pat and John Rosenwald Professorship of Pediatrics.

Watch video of event and view photo slideshow

Download the Dean's Honors Day printed program, which includes a complete listing of honorees (PDF).

 

Media Inquiries:
Lisa Greiner
212-404-3532 | 646-592-3044 cell | lisa.greiner@nyumc.org