A Strong Future for Our School and Our Students

THE ALUMNI COUNCIL OPENED ITS VIRTUAL WINTER MEETING in early February with the selection of Neal Baer, MD ’96 (Class of 1995), as the 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for HMS Alumni. Given in recognition of outstanding commitment to the School, including volunteerism, peer/community engagement, and enrichment of the student experience, the award will be presented on June 2, Alumni Day, at HMS.

Turning to financial commitment, David Nierenberg, MD ’76, chair of alumni giving, reported the receipt of $5.3 million in pledges from MD alumni through December 31 of the current fiscal year. This amount exceeds the gifts and pledges received at a comparable point in fiscal year 2021. Further, 2023 reunion giving, currently at $5.1 million, is on track to meet or exceed its $7 million goal.

Dean George Q. Daley, MD ’91, updated the Council on the search for the next dean for medical education being led by Jules Dienstag. Ed Hundert, MD ’84, who previously held this post, will now focus his talent on working with the HMS alumni office while maintaining his faculty role at the Center for Bioethics.

The dean also noted that the HMS curriculum continues to evolve with the completion of the first phase of the Sexual and Gender Minorities Health Equality Initiative, which will broaden student and faculty clinician training in that arena. In addition, HMS has approved a new curricular societal theme of climate change and health.

The dean said that recent gifts will allow for the renaming of Building C as well as a restructuring of a courtyard area to produce twenty-five thousand square feet of added space. Other major gifts include $50 million to establish the Paul Farmer Collaborative between HMS and the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, along with an anonymous $10 million gift of an endowed chair in Farmer’s name for the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine.

The meeting concluded with an update on the URiM mentorship project, including insights from Tola Ibikunle, a third-year medical student, and Kyeisha Laurence, a firstyear medical student, co-presidents of the HMS chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). Both found mentors and advisors at HMS to be highly accessible and dedicated to student professional development, and noted that the HMS Office of Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs created a welcoming and supportive environment at HMS, counterbalancing some of the lingering negative perceptions of Boston for people of color. Both continue their undergrad advocacy and activist efforts at HMS through programs like the HMS Chapter of SNMA and its Empower Conference, a symposium on underrepresented voices in medicine. Both programs help URiM students understand what is necessary to successfully apply to medical school.

Intellectual depth, broad global ken, and diverse composition continue as mainstays of the School’s strength.

Kenneth Bridges, MD ’76, is vice president of external affairs for Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc., in South San Francisco.

Distinguished Service Award for Harvard Medical School Alumni

Congratulations to the 2023 winner, Neal Baer, MD ’96 (Class of 1995), who is being recognized for his staunch advocacy and support of HMS’ LGBTQ+ community and anti-racism initiatives; his invaluable service as co-director of both the Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health program and the Media and Medicine certificate program; and his enthusiastic participation on various leadership boards and volunteer committees to help further the School’s mission and advance alumni engagement and philanthropy. Learn more at alumni.hms.harvard.edu/service-award.

Provide Career Advice to Students

Alumni are invited to sign up for the MD Alumni Advisor program, which lets students select a volunteer who can help them choose a specialty, find the right residency, and practice interviewing for internships. Interested alumni can contact Dea Angiolillo, MD ’79, at dea.angiolillo@gmail.com.

MD Class and Master’s Listservs

Do you want to connect with your classmates or fellow master’s alumni to share updates or initiate conversations?

Private class listservs allow MD alumni to connect with their classmates while the Office for Graduate Education offers a dedicated email discussion group for graduates of the School’s master’s programs. To learn more about contacting MD classmates, visit alumni.hms.harvard.edu/connect. To join the email discussion group for graduates of master’s programs, go to alumni.hms.harvard.edu/masters-listerv.

Join Your 2024 Reunion Committee

MD classes ending in “4” and “9” are celebrating their reunions June 6 to 8, 2024. Join your reunion committee to help plan a class-specific event and encourage your classmates to participate. For more information, contact the alumni engagement team at 617-384-8520 or hmsalum@hms.harvard.edu.

Electronic Journal Access

Never stop learning. Alumni can access thousands of peerreviewed journals and more than 2,000 seminars online. To browse the available collections, visit alumni.hms.harvard.edu/online-journals.

Benefits

Shared by both gift options:

• Fulfill your financial, tax, and estate planning goals

• Reduce or eliminate estate tax

• Improve health and well-being for all

Did You Know?

Without a will, the laws of your state will decide how your estate is divided.

TIP: Work with an attorney to create a will or living trust that accomplishes your personal and philanthropic goals.

Including HMS in your will or living trust is a simple way to make a gift—it costs nothing now but provides future support for the causes most important to you.

A retirement account can be the most highly-taxed asset that people pass to heirs.

TIP: Leave other types of assets to your heirs and gift retirement assets to a charitable organization such as HMS.

Designating HMS as a beneficiary of your individual retirement account, investment account, savings account, or donor-advised fund is as easy as filling out a form.