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Seven alumni honored with 2006 Distinguished Service Awards March 14, 2006 - Seven Tufts alumni will be honored with Distinguished Service Awards by the Tufts University Alumni Association (TUAA) for their service to Tufts, their professions or their communities. For the third time, TUAA will also present one alumnus with the Young Alumni Achievement Award. Alumni will be honored on April 8 at the annual awards dinner, hosted by TUAA. Recognized by TUAA leadership are: Joan M. Bergstrom, Ed.D., J62, is an educator, author, consultant, and entrepreneur. Since 1972, she has been a professor of education at Wheelock College and is the current director of the Center for International Education, Leadership, and Innovation. Dr. Bergstrom founded the consulting company Workplace Connections, Inc. in 1984 which established and managed childcare and emergency backup centers and dependent-care programs. In response to a need for innovative and creative educational products for school-age children, she founded The Activities Club and served as president until the company was sold to Nobel Learning, Inc., in 1999. The Activities Club introduces children to hobbies that become lifelong pursuits. Dr. Bergstrom is an author, a frequent lecturer to parent groups, and a guest on numerous television and radio shows. In 1999, she received the Edward H. Ladd Award for Academic Excellence and Service from Wheelock College. Dr. Bergstrom is listed in Who’s Who in American Business, Who’s Who in American Education, and Who’s Who in American Women. Dr. Bergstrom, her husband Gary, and son Craig established the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science in 1997 as the first endowed professorship at Eliot-Pearson. Dr. Bergstrom is a trustee of the Boston Museum of Science and the Child Health Institute of New Jersey at UMDNJ-The Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Elected to the Tufts Board of Trustees in 1996, she currently chairs the Board of Overseers to the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and serves on the Committee for University Advancement. Leon S. Klempner, D.D.S., DG77 is a diplomat of the American Board of Orthodontics. Dr. Klempner is a volunteer faculty member of both Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and Stony Brook Dental School. He is an active member of the cleft palate team at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, NY. Since 1996, Dr. Klempner has been an outstanding medical volunteer to Operation Smile, an organization that provides free reconstructive surgery to tens of thousands of children and young adults in 25 developing countries and the United States. Dr. Klempner has been on nine Operation Smile missions to help alleviate human suffering, traveling to Ecuador and Honduras many times as well as to China and Nicaragua. On each mission he has given lectures to plastic surgeons on the orthodontist's role in treating facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate as well as to local dentists on the topic of early treatment techniques. He has taught dental and medical volunteers preparing to join Operation Smile on missions all over the world. Dr. Klempner is a member of numerous professional organizations and currently serves on the executive dental council for Operation Smile. He lectures nationally and internationally and has been published many times. A dedicated orthodontist and founder of Coolsmiles Orthodontics, he maintains two busy offices on Long Island, New York. Dr. Klempner and his wife, Laurie, have three daughters, Amy, Lisa, and Jodi. Jeremiah J. Lowney, Jr., D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H, A58, A76, J84P, J88P, is a practicing orthodontist in Norwich, CT. Since 1982, Dr. Lowney has journeyed to Haiti every three months to build and administer the Haitian Health Foundation (HHF), having been guided to the remote southern part of Haiti by Mother Teresa. The HHF outpatient clinic and inpatient Center of Hope facilities are located in Jeremie, Haiti. The HHF “umbrella” of healthcare covers more than 200,000 of this hemisphere’s poorest people, in Jeremie and 104 mountain villages. Outpatient services include dental treatment, eye care, medical laboratory, x-ray, sonogram, and pharmacy. Dr. Lowney also built and operates the Center of Hope, an inpatient facility of 40 beds for village women in high-risk pregnancies and children with life-threatening malnutrition; this facility is the only one of its kind in Haiti. Dr. Lowney directs a large food distribution program for the neediest women and children, as well as an animal distribution effort, and and latrine and housing construction projects. Dr. Lowney began practicing orthodontics in CT following three years as a dental officer in the U.S. Navy and a two-year residency in orthodontics at SUNY Buffalo. He also earned a masters of public health from the University of Connecticut and holds several honorary degrees. In 1990, Pope John Paul II highlighted Dr. Lowney as a Knight of St. Gregory the Great; he is also a Knight of Malta. A longtime Rotarian, in 1995 he received Rotary’s highest award, “service Above Self” given to only 75 members worldwide. Dr. Lowney and his wife, Virginia, have four children and 10 grandchildren. Elena M. Massarotti, M.D., J80, M84, is a physician, former chief medical resident at Tufts- New England Medical Center, current director of clinical rheumatology at Tufts-NEMC and associate professor of medicine at Tufts Medical School. Dr. Massarotti has been regularly recognized for clinical excellence and for her dedication and skills in teaching. She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and has been published numerous times in peer-reviewed journals. She is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Tufts University and attended Tufts University School of Medicine, where she received the Dameshek Prize in Medicine, awarded annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions in internal medicine. A path-breaker for people with disabilities at Tufts, Dr. Massarotti was the first person in a wheelchair to matriculate at Tufts University School of Medicine. Practicing as a general rheumatologist with special interest in rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and vasculitis, she is the principal investigator for several clinical trials of treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Collaborating with other investigators in clinical research projects based at Tufts-NEMC and nationally, she is actively involved in the education of medical students, house officers, and fellows who rotate through the rheumatology division. Legendary for her expertise, kindness, and compassion, Dr. Massarotti was previously named among the top doctors in Boston by Boston Magazine. Jason H. Samuels, E45, E84P, is a faithful president to the Class of 1945 and co-chair of his class reunions. His close attention to contacts with his classmates resulted in an impressive attendance of more than 60 graduates for their 60th Reunion during the 2005 Alumni Weekend. His encouragement to all class members for their support earned the Class of 1945 the University Cup Award, setting a record of classes beyond 50th Reunion, with 56 percent of the class contributing. Mr. Samuels’ war experience began when he first arrived at Tufts for class selection and registration in August 1941. Moved by patriotism, he decided to apply for the NROTC unit and was selected. In February 1944, at the end of his junior year, he received his commission and was assigned (at age 23) as executive officer onboard Sub Chaser. Mr. Samuels’ ship accompanied convoys in the Caribbean Sea and south Atlantic and then convoy and landing invasions in the battles for Iwo Jima, the Philippines, and Okinawa. After World War II, Mr. Samuels completed a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Tufts. He has specialized in all areas of the packaging machinery industry and is an honorary life member and on the board of the New England chapter of the Institute of Packaging Professionals. He is a founding member of the V-12/NROTC Ad Hoc Committee at Tufts, which sponsors an award given annually to an ROTC student. He initiated V-12/NROTC support to fund two Tisch Library display cases showcasing memorabilia from the Navy veterans of World War II. Mr. Samuels continues to play an important role in this endeavor and in May 2005 established “Advocates for Tufts ROTC,” to include members of all the services. He has been a loyal member of the Tufts Alumni Council and its committees, as well as Phi Epsilon Pi Fraternity at Tufts and numerous community activities. Jay Samuels and his wife, Eleanor, live in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Rev. White-Hammond is the co-convener of " The Red Tent Group" with Rabbi Elaine Zecher of Temple Israel, which brings together Christian women and Jewish women for small group Torah/Bible study. She serves on the board of trustees of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Board of Overseers for Tufts University and University College, as well as on the boards of the American Anti-Slavery Group ( Boston) and Christian Solidarity International ( Zurich). Rev. White-Hammond’s work as a humanitarian has achieved global impact. She has worked as a medical missionary in several African countries, including Botswana, Cote D’Ivoire, and South Africa. In 2001, Rev. White-Hammond traveled to southern Sudan, where she was involved in obtaining the freedom of 6,700 women and children enslaved during the two decades long civil war. In 2002 she co-founded " My Sister’s Keeper" (MSK), a humanitarian women’s group that partners with women of Sudan in their efforts toward reconciliation and reconstruction of their communities. Since 1973, she has been married to the Rev. Ray A. Hammond, M.D., who is the founding pastor of Bethel AME Church. They are the parents of two adult daughters, Mariama and Adiya. Dean Donald E. Wilson, M.D., M.A.C.P., M62, is a member of the Board of Overseers at Tufts School of Medicine, vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland, and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Wilson has dedicated his life to the advancement of medical science, education, and the principles of diversity and equity in healthcare. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Dr. Wilson graduated from Harvard before receiving his M.S. from Tufts in 1962. In 1991, Dr. Wilson became the nation’s first African-American dean at the University of Maryland, a predominantly white medical school. Under his leadership, the University of Maryland School of Medicine now has one of the most diverse student bodies in the country and has garnered record-setting research grants to target the world’s most pressing healthcare threats. Dr. Wilson’s commitment to the education of minority medical students prompted him to become a founding member of the Association of Academic Minority Physicians, a professional organization for minority physicians and scientists. From 1994 to 2004, Dr. Wilson was chairman of the Maryland Health Care Commission, which monitors healthcare costs and evaluates the quality of HMOs, nursing homes, and hospitals. In 2004, he served as chairman of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which represents all liaison committees on medical education at accredited U.S. medical schools and more than 400 teaching hospitals. Also in 2004, Dr. Wilson established the Center for Health Disparities to help identify and eliminate ethnic, racial, and geographic differences in the diagnosis and treatment of illness. Dr. Wilson holds membership in numerous prestigious medical/research societies and has received many national awards for his leadership and accomplishments. He is a master of the American College of Physicians, an honor bestowed on less than 1 percent of its members. Dr. Wilson and his wife, Patricia, live in Owings Mills, Maryland. Bret N. Bicoy, A92, is president of the Nevada Community Foundation, which defines its mission as building and strengthening community in that state. Mr. Bicoy previously served as president and CEO of the Marietta Community Foundation in Ohio and as the senior foundation officer of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation in Wisconsin. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts University and a certificate of excellence in nonprofit leadership from the University of Wisconsin School of Human Ecology. Mr. Bicoy’s commitment to building philanthropy in communities earned him recognition as an emerging philanthropic leader and fellow of the Council on Foundations in Washington, DC. He was also honored in 2004 as the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce Community Leader of the Year. The award describes him as “a believer in impossible things, whose vision, enthusiasm and dedication have unquestionably made their mark on our community.” Mr. Bicoy has spoken to countless charitable boards, conducted workshops, and presented to regional and national conferences on engaging communities and organizational development. This past June, Mr. Bicoy generously agreed to be the keynote speaker at the Tufts University Alumni Association’s Regional Leaders Symposium, co-hosted by University College. A gifted speaker, Mr. Bicoy recognizes that all citizens have the power within them to improve their community and works tirelessly to enable them to achieve their goals. He and his wife, Cari, are the proud parents of Alyssa, David, Bret Jr., Kekoa, Nalani, and Malia.
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