College Recognizes Students, Alumni on Honors Day

The College of Medicine celebrated recent and past graduates during the 2013 Honors Day celebration, held Saturday, May 18, in the Aronoff Center for the Arts.

Addressing the class of 166, College of Medicine Dean Thomas Boat, MD, opened with, "Graduates, you look eager and ready to move to your next calling." As they enter a changing world of medicine and health care, he urged students to be a "contributor to change. Be a contributor to improving health care outcomes for everyone."

UC President Santa Ono, PhD, also presented opening remarks during the ceremony. He reminded graduates of the college's founder, Daniel Drake, and his values of imagination, innovation and a commitment to medicine. 

"Congratulations for reaching this very important point in your educational journey, " he said. "You now join a distinguished tradition, a legacy going back almost 200 years.... I hope you will carry out that ethos out into the world wherever you may go. As graduates of the UC College of Medicine I have ever confidence in the path you will select."

The Honors Day address, "After the Comma," was presented by alumnus Thomas Graham, MD. Graham, vice chairman of orthopedic surgery and Chief Innovation Officer at the Cleveland Clinic, received the first John Shaw Billings, MD, Alumni Leadership Award for his contributions to medicine. Student Amit Dixit served as the class speaker.

The graduating class recognized several of their professors for teaching excellence at their ceremony: For the seventh consecutive year, the David Fischer, MD, chief of general surgery, received the Golden Apple teaching award. LeAnn Coberly, MD, professor of clinical internal medicine, and John Quinlan, MD, professor of neurology, received Silver Apples. This is the sixth time each has received the Silver Apple.

To see the full list of student awards presented at Honors Day, click here.