ALUMNI and DONOR Events Founder’s Dinner 2019
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ew York Medical College (NYMC) hosted its annual Founder’s Dinner at the Surf Club on The Sound in New Rochelle, New York, on September 18, 2019. More than 325 College supporters gathered for a festive evening to celebrate NYMC’s proud history and promising future, honor distinguished community leaders and alumni for their impactful achievements. The event raised more than $400,000 for student scholarship and other important initiatives. The gala honored: Robert A. Barish, M.D. ’79, M.B.A., with the William Cullen Bryant Award; Jean Marie Malecki, M.D. ’79, M.P.H., FACPM, with the Alfred B. DelBello Distinguished Service Award; and Ira D. Glick, M.D. ’61, with the Jackson E. Spears Award. The inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Anton Bennett, Ph.D. ’93, who was selected for the honor by fellow alumni in the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences.
A highlight of the evening was the presentation of honorary Doctor of Science degrees to Regeneron co-founders Leonard S. Schleifer, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, and George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer. NYMC and Regeneron, a leading science and technology company, have been collaborative partners since the company’s founding in 1988. The synergy has resulted in NYMC students and faculty gaining invaluable access and exposure to efforts in human genetics, animal model development and drug discovery and development at Regeneron, while providing Regeneron access to NYMC resources including some of the brightest minds in academic biomedical sciences. Most recently the relationship resulted in NYMC and Regeneron partnering to develop a clinical drug trial to treat critically ill patients with COVID-19 at Westchester Medical Center.
Founder’s Dinner 2020
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he COVID-19 pandemic transformed the 2020 Founder’s Dinner into a virtual event where the NYMC community gathered online to demonstrate their unwavering support on October 21, 2020. Leadership, inspiration and education, were the themes of the video viewed by College supporters, while a live chat feature kept the audience engaged with each other. The event honored distinguished community leaders and alumni and paid homage to the students and faculty on the frontline of the pandemic. The virtual Founder’s Dinner raised more than $305,900 that will be used to ensure NYMC’s continued success in educating the next generation of physicians and health care providers and conducting lifesaving biomedical research. The presenting sponsors were the NYMC Board of Advisors, Boston Children’s Health Physicians and Westchester Medical Center. The 2020 Founder’s Dinner recognized Mayor of New Rochelle, Noam Bramson and former New York Yankee, Mariano Rivera and his wife Clara Younce Rivera for their leadership and support of their community, New Rochelle, once a 44
C H I R O N I A N 2020
Coronavirus hot spot. The evening also paid tribute to Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health; U.S. House Representative Nita M. Lowey; and all of the NYMC alumni and faculty members who have served or currently serve as health commissioners in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Other honors of the evening went to alumnus Ronald L. Arenson, M.D. ‘70, chair emeritus of the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, who received the William Cullen Bryant Award, established to recognize those remarkable individuals who, in the tradition of the College’s founder, William Cullen Bryant, demonstrate seminal leadership in health care, science, education, business or the arts. Tiffany E. Channer, MPH, ’13, MLS (ASCP) CM, assistant administrative director of laboratories and quality manager, received the Distinguished Alumni Award, an honor that is voted for by fellow alumni in the School of Health Sciences and Practices..
