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New York Medical College to Honor Three Distinguished Individuals at Founder's Dinner

New York Medical College (NYMC) is pleased to announce that its annual Founder’s Dinner will take place on October 26 at the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains, N.Y.

Date: August 22, 2014
Media Contact:

Jennifer Riekert, M.B.A.
Vice President of Communications
New York Medical College
(914) 594-4552
Jennifer_Riekert@nymc.edu

Annual Founder’s Dinner will take place on October 26 at the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains, N.Y. 

Valhalla, N.Y., August 22, 2014New York Medical College (NYMC) is pleased to announce that its annual Founder’s Dinner will take place on October 26 at the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains, N.Y. The annual fundraising gala will honor three distinguished individuals. The Founder’s Dinner advisory committee solicits nominations from alumni across the nation, College faculty, students and employees, and awards are presented at the gala.

The William Cullen Bryant Award recognizes individuals who, in the tradition of the College’s founder, William Cullen Bryant, demonstrate distinguished leadership in health care, science, education, business or the arts. This year’s award will be presented to Joanne Kurtzberg, M.D. ’76, an internationally renowned expert in pediatric hematology/oncology, pediatric blood and marrow transplantation, umbilical cord blood banking and transplantation, and novel applications of cord blood in the emerging fields of cellular therapies and regenerative medicine. Over the last two decades Dr. Kurtzberg has established a world renowned pediatric transplant program at Duke University which treats children with cancer, blood disorders, immune deficiencies, hemoglobinopathies and inherited metabolic diseases. In 2010, Dr. Kurtzberg established the Julian Robertson Cell and Translational Therapy Program (CT2) at Duke. She also established one of the largest unrelated donor cord blood bank, the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank, in the world at Duke in 1998. Dr. Kurtzberg has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, multiple chapters and scientific reviews. She is a member of the American Society of Hematology, the American Association of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, the International Society of Cellular Therapies, the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium (PBMTC) among other organizations.

The Jackson E. Spears Community Service Award is bestowed upon individuals or organizations who have demonstrated exceptional service and commitment to their communities. The award honors the late Jackson E. Spears, who served as a member of the College’s Board of Trustees from 1943 to 2003. This year’s award is presented to Richard Stone, M.D. ’68, professor of clinical pediatrics, professor of clinical public health and senior associate dean at NYMC. After active duty at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, he returned to NYMC at Metropolitan Hospital in 1973 where he served first as pediatric residency director and then in 1981 became chief of pediatrics. In 1989, he was appointed Metropolitan’s medical director. Dr. Stone has published numerous articles and is the recipient of many awards including the 2008 Leonard Tow Award for Humanism in Medicine sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. He is a board certified pediatrician, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the New York Academy of Medicine and a member of many other professional organizations. He recently received a distinguished service award from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine and has been honored several times by both the Community Advisory Board and the Medial Board of Metropolitan Hospital Center.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual who has helped advance the College’s mission of education and research though service, commitment and expert ability. This year’s award is presented to Andrew Ordon, M.D., host of the Emmy Award winning TV show The Doctors. Dr. Ordon is an acclaimed surgeon in the areas of aesthetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery. He is a Phi Beta graduate of the University of California at Irvine where he earned his undergraduate degree with honors in biological sciences and was a recipient of the national science foundation grant for his research in neurophysiology. He then received his medical degree from the Keck/USC School of Medicine with honors in medicine. Dr. Ordon is currently an assistant professor of plastic surgery at Dartmouth School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut. He also holds a clinical faculty position at the Keck/ USC School of Medicine. Formerly, he was assistant professor of surgery at both UCLA School of Medicine and the New York Medical College. His current hospital affiliations include Cedar Sinai Medical Center and Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage in California.

About New York Medical College
Founded in 1860, New York Medical College is one of the oldest and largest health sciences universities in the country with more than 1,400 students, 1,300 residents and clinical fellows, nearly 3,000 faculty members, and 15,000 living alumni. The College, which joined the Touro College and University System in 2011, is located in Valhalla, NY, and offers advanced degrees from the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, and the School of Health Sciences and Practice. As a leading academic and biomedical research institution, the College manages more than $36 million in research and other sponsored programs, notably in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, kidney disease, the neurosciences, disaster medicine, and vaccine development. 

With a network of affiliated hospitals that includes large urban medical centers, small suburban clinics and high-tech regional tertiary care facilities, NYMC provides a wide variety of clinical training opportunities throughout the tri-state region for medical students, residents and allied health providers.