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Tufts University Alumni Association

President John DiBiaggio (second from right) and TUAA President Elliott Lerman, E65 (far right), with Distinguished Service honorees (l-r): Dr. Lloyd L. Miller, Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer, Elizabeth Parker Powell, Dr. William M. McDermott Jr., Dr. William W. Sellers and Steven B. Epstein.

Every year the Tufts University Alumni Association honors the contributions of alumni making a difference at Tufts, in their professions, and in their communities. This year, the honorees, cited at a gala dinner in the Hall of Flags at the Fletcher School, were: Steven B. Epstein, A65, P96, P01, for service to Tufts and community; Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer, for service to Tufts and profession; Dr. William M. McDermott Jr., A53, G54, M58, for service to Tufts, profession and community; Dr. Lloyd L. Miller, A54, D58, for service to Tufts and profession; Elizabeth Parker Powell, F62, for service to Tufts and community; and Dr. William W. Sellers, A56, D60, P84J, for service to Tufts and profession. We salute them for their inspired support, and for leading lives committed to ideals and guided by compassion and gratitude.

Steven B. Epstein grew up in New York's Westchester County and graduated from Tufts in 1965 and from the Columbia School of Law in 1968.
He is a founder and senior partner of Epstein, Becker and Green, one of the premier and largest national health-care law firms in the country, employing over 270 attorneys. A pioneer in the practice of health-care law, he has played a prominent role for more than two decades in the development of health law as a diverse area of legal practice. He was instrumental in the development and establishment of managed care as an accepted form of health-care delivery in the United States.
Mr. Epstein serves on the Tufts Board of Overseers for Athletics, where he has been particularly supportive of efforts to expand Tufts indoor athletic facilities, as well as the Board of Visitors for Columbia Law School. He devotes the majority of his time to work with boards of directors, performing strategic planning for, and acting as lead counsel in mergers and acquisitions for a broad range of health care entities around the country. He is a member of the board of directors of the American Psych Systems, Inc., Dental Benefits Providers, Inc., Emerald Health Network and Fallon Foundation.
He and his wife, Deborah, who graduated from Boston University, have three sons, Jason who graduated from Tufts in 1996, Gregory, a senior at Amherst; David, a member of the Tufts class of 2001, and a daughter, Allie.

Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer received his MD from the University of Buffalo in 1957 and has been associated with the Tufts University School of Medicine and the New England Medical Center for 40 years.
An internationally recognized scholar and teacher, he currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, a post he has held since 1991, where his has been a clear voice for academic medicine, critical thinking and ethical behavior by physicians. In addition, Dr. Kassirer has been Professor of Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine since 1974 and served as Vice Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Associate Physician-in-Chief at the New England Medical Center from 1971-1991.
A member of many committees both at the Tufts School of Medicine and at the New England Medical Center, he also serves on many national and local committees. He has given many honorary lectures and has held visiting professorships throughout the world.
Among Dr. Kassirer's awards and honors are many teaching awards and honorary degrees from Tufts University; the University of Massachusetts, Worcester; L'University Rene Descartes, Paris; Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia; SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse; and the Medical College of Ohio.
Dr. Kassirer and his wife, Sheridan, have five children: Amy, Richard, Wendy, Elizabeth, Winston, and Samuel.

Dr. William M. McDermott Jr., received his BS in 1953 and his MS in 1954 from Tufts, and graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1958.
A retired Rear Admiral in the US Navy with more than 20 years of distinguished military service, Dr. McDermott has heldnumerous posts, include Commander of the Naval Medical Command, Fleet Surgeon, and Commander in Chief of the US Atlantic Fleet. He has received many military decorations, including the Vietnam Service and Campaign Medals, Meritorious Unit Commendation, and Bronze Star Medal (with Combat V).
From 1985 to 1994, he was executive vice president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and was responsible for carrying out a wide range of legislative, health policy, and community relations initiatives on behalf of the Society's membership.
A Cape Cod resident, Dr. McDermott has headed the Falmouth Free Clinic, which was established in 1997 by a group of concerned residents to meet the health- care needs of low income, uninsured patients of the upper Cape. More than
25 volunteer physicians, nurses, counselors, therapists, and others, funded by voluntary contributions, have treated almost 1,000 patients, providing all laboratory X-ray, consultations, and pharmacy prescriptions without cost to patients.
Dr. McDermott and his wife, Elaine, have three children.

Dr. Lloyd L. Miller received his BS from Tufts and in 1958 earned his DMD from the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.
In his 37-year career Dr. Miller has earned an international reputation for excellence and innovation in the field of prosthodontics. In addition to his thriving prosthodontics practice in Weston, he also heads the Gnathos Dental Laboratory, which conducts research in ceramic and metal processes. He developed the Gnathos Dental Color System, which enables dental technicians to achieve truer shadings and colorations than were previously possible. He is a much sought after lecturer, presenting courses and seminars throughout the world.
He has held the position of president of the American Academy of Dental Science, the American Academy of Crown and Bridge Prosthodontics, Northeast Prosthodontic Society, and the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry.
A member of the faculty of the Tufts School of Dental Medicine since 1958, he is Clinical Professor. In 1987, he established the Dr. Lloyd L. Miller Postgraduate Prosthodontics Student Fellowship, and in 1996 the Dr. Lloyd L. Miller Postgraduate Prosthodontics Clinic was dedicated. This clinic is a lasting testimonial to a lifetime of achievement in prosthodontics and his contributions as a teacher and clinician. He is also responsible for establishing Tufts alumni chapters in France, Greece, Italy, Japan, and Spain.

Elizabeth Parker Powell, a graduate of Smith College, earned a degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1962 and went on to earn an MBA from Babson College.
Ms. Powell serves as Treasurer of Diamond Machining Technology, Inc., which she and her husband co-founded. She combines these duties with volunteerism, and her involvement in Fletcher's external relations activities has set a new standard for volunteers. She has created special events such as leadership dinners, wine tastings and class reunion activities, and, as chair of the Fletcher Fund, she has introduced a new level of personalization and persuasiveness in annual fund letters. She also serves with distinction on the Fletcher Board of Overseers
She is a Charter Trustee of Phillips Academy in Andover and served as Trustee of Babson College from 1984 to 1997, where she was also a Visiting Assistant Professor of Management. She has also volunteered for organizations ranging from the Town Meeting and the library in her hometown of Wellesley to the Governor's Fiscal Management Task Force of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She was director of BayBank, Harvard Community Health Plan, and Worldwide D-I-Y Council, a hardware export association.
Mrs. Powell and her husband, David, have three children.

Dr. William W. Sellers received his BS from Tufts in 1956 and a DMD from Tufts School of Dental Medicine in 1960.
A dentist in private practice in Reading, Massachusetts, he was elected Alumni Trustee of Tufts in 1985 and became a Charter Trustee in 1990.
He has been a member of the Academic Affairs Committee for 13 years and has served as Chair since 1997. His interest in student-life issues led him to chair the Board of Overseers for Student Life from 1989 to 1994. In 1993, he also headed a committee created by the Board of Trustees to look into the faculty recommendations for changes in the fraternity system. His other Tufts affiliations include the Tufts Dental Alumni Association and the Jumbo Club.
Dr. Sellers has been a member of the Board of Overseers to the Dental School since 1986 and has served as its chair since 1994. He has also been a part-time instructor at the Dental School for over ten years.
A trustee and former president of the Massachusetts Dental Society, he is a delegate to the American Dental Association and a member of the American College of Dentists, the American Academy of Dental Science, the Academy of General Dentistry, and Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the dental honor society.
He and his wife, Dr. Usha Sellers, who has BA. and MA degrees from Tufts, have four children: Lisa, a 1984 Tufts graduate, William, Allison, and Scott.