April 2020 | Issue No. 36 | Special Reunion Edition |
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To Our 2020 Reunion Alumni:
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This special edition of the Medical Alumni Association Newsletter is for YOU!
This month, we celebrate our beloved reunion classes: 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015.
We’ve put together a jam-packed issue full of memories, archival photos, virtual tours, special messages, digital, on-demand content, and more:
| • | Join us as we take a walk down memory lane to celebrate your days spent on campus. | | • | Learn more about the next generation of students following in your footsteps. | | • | Explore the incredible city that surrounds your alma mater. | | • | Participate in online CME courses, a Zoom yoga class, and an interactive message board for our graduating M4s. |
Here’s to the memories that you made, the lifetime friendships that you forged, and the extraordinary personal and professional accomplishments that you've achieved since you donned your regalia and turned your tassel.
Here’s to you.
Congratulations on your reunions!
Your Alumni Relations Team,
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Dear Alumni, We hope that you are all safe and well during this difficult time. We know that many of you are on the front lines of this pandemic, and we are so grateful for all that you are doing. We normally do not produce a newsletter in April due to our Alumni Weekend activities. However, since Alumni Weekend was canceled, we decided to put together an exclusive edition of the alumni newsletter, focusing on our reunion classes for this year. We hope that you enjoy this special issue.
As always, please reach out to me with any comments/questions.
Thank you,
Babette
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They say that a picture’s worth a thousand words….
Join us as we take a walk down memory lane to view photos of our class composites, Alumni Weekend 2015, our most recent class dinners, and the memories that made us. |
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Thank You, Class Representatives and Reunion Volunteers! |
Reunion would not be possible without our incredible class representatives and reunion volunteers. Beginning as early as the prior summer, these individuals generously donate their time to the planning, execution, and coordination of outreach efforts. They assist and advise the alumni relations staff, working to engage their fellow classmates and create a memorable experience for all alumni. In honor of National Volunteer Week (April 19–25), we would like to thank this year’s reps and volunteers for their tremendous support. |
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1960 Melvin Gerbie, MD
Warren Furey, MD
Joseph Libretti, MD
Marshall Sparberg, MD
James Meltzer, MD
Henry Roenigk, Jr., MD
1965 John Stoner, MD
1970 Edward Forkos, MD
George Bernard, MD
Harriet Pien, MD
Bruce Scharschmidt, MD
1975 Marvin Peiken, MD
Francisco Gonzalez-Scarano, MD
1980
Susan Zwanger-Mendelsohn, MD Melani Pertcheck Shaum, MD
Jeffry Lawrence, MD |
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1985 Gregory Kalemkerian, MD
Elizabeth Reidy, MD
Jeffrey Schaider, MD
1990 Nancy Codori, MD
Kerry Humes, MD
1995 Anita Chandra-Puri, MD
Yolanda Heman-Ackah, MD
Shireesha Carse, MD
2000 Rishi Reddy, MD
Sanjiv Shah, MD
2005
Benjamin Levi, MD
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A Message From Your Classmates |
Several of your 2020 class reps and reunion volunteers shared notes of congratulations in honor of your reunion: |
"I never thought I’d be writing this note instead of telling Warren that he was in charge of giving the welcome speech to our classmates in one week. When I received the class list, it saddened me to read the names of those who were no longer with us and then finding the additional names of those who passed away in just the past year was distressing.
This year I did not expect to receive such joy in making contact with many of our classmates throughout the country—hearing about their careers, families, retirement activities, and even their medical problems, spouse illnesses, and losses. Everyone I spoke with remains a strong fan of Northwestern Medical School and has great memories of many of us. We agreed that we would probably not be accepted to medical school today and that medicine has been a great career.
Finally, although we three class representatives, myself, Joe, and Warren, led the calling, we thank and appreciate Marshall Sparberg, Jim Meltzer, and Henry Roenigk who stepped in and made our jobs much easier. Of course, none of this would have been possible without Jillian Brubaker in the Development office who graciously helped us, answered our questions, and resupplied us with class details, always with a smile in her voice."
Melvin Gerbie
-Class of 1960 |
"Fondest memories, best friends, and even my life partner, Nancy Schriver, started with the great NUMS class of 1960. So many are no longer with us but they are a big part of whatever success I enjoyed in my fifty year practice of medicine and have a place forever in my heart ❤️. Thank you guys and gals! God bless, love you."
Warren Furey
-Class of 1960 |
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"Congratulations to our NUMS graduation class of 1960, particularly those who could not make the reunion. It seems like yesterday when we began medical school with a convocation featuring Dr. Best, the co-discoverer of insulin. He reassured us that science had not cured everything and that we will have new diseases to treat and cure. How prophetic in this time of COVID-19."
Marshall Sparberg
-Class of 1960 |
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"To my fellow 1970 Feinberg-NUMS Graduates,
We survived the riots and national trauma following the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, the violence which occurred during the 1968 Democratic convention at Chicago’s International Amphitheatre, and we can survive COVID-19.
Congratulations on our 50th and stay safe!"
Bruce Scharschmidt, HPME ’68, MD ’70 -Class of 1970 |
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"To the Class of ’75.... our 45th reunion has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Hope all of you are well and safe! Let’s all get together en mass for our 50th in 2025. Also, I am proud that we started our MD Class Scholarship Fund and look forward to someday meeting our scholar."
Marvin Peiken
-Class of 1975 |
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"Congratulations to the Class of 1980 on the 40th anniversary of our graduation! We miss you and are so sorry that we won’t be seeing you and catching up this weekend. Please let us know if you are interested in getting together in Chicago in April 2021. We will be happy to organize it.
All the best."
Susan Zwanger-Mendelsohn and Melani Shaum
-Class of 1980 |
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"Dear Class of '85 – Congratulations on 35 years of phenomenal achievements! Since we couldn’t celebrate this one, let’s plan on making the big 4-0 our biggest and best reunion ever. We hope to see EVERYONE in Chicago in 2025!" Greg Kalemkerian and Betsy Terando Reidy
-Class of 1985 |
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"As a member of the Medical School Alumni Board and the Class of 1985, I wanted to provide a warm socially distant greeting to all of the class on our 35-year reunion and thank everyone for providing outstanding medical care to our patients during this unprecedented pandemic. Be well, and I look forward to connecting (electronically) with our class in the upcoming year." Jeff Schaider -Class of 1985 |
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“Congratulations to the Class of 1995 on 25 years of delivering medical care! May we all stay happy, healthy, blessed, and a voice of guidance and reason for our local and federal government officials as we persevere through this COVID-19 pandemic.”
Yolanda Heman-Ackah
-Class of 1995 |
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A Special Salute to Our 50 Year Class |
To the MD Class of 1970— We salute you and celebrate your journey from students in medical school to the esteemed alumni that you now are. Your lives, careers, and contributions to the field continue to inspire your fellow alumni and future generations of physicians. Thank you for your sacrifices, dedication, and incredible accomplishments. We are proud to call you our alumni. Congratulations on your 50th reunion! |
Thank you to Joseph E. Russ ’68, ’70 MD, ’72 GMER, ’77 GMER, for sending us this picture of the "Carmen Penthouse Gang" on Graduation Day, June 13, 1970, in a human pyramid.
Pictured from left to right—
Top row: James Greenlee Middle row: Bradley Peterson, Thomas Hausam, Jon Gibbs Bottom row: Joseph Russ, Bruce Scharschmidt, J. Thomas Brown, John Forestner
The members of the "Carmen Penthouse Gang" all lived in an old penthouse apartment on Carmen Avenue, south of Foster during medical school. |
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MD Class of 1970 alumni at their 45th reunion in 2015. |
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Spotlight on 1955 Alumnus |
MD Class of 1955 alumnus Nicholas J. Demos ’52, ’54 MS, ’55 MD, ’58 GMER, shared his sketch of Hippocrates with us. Thank you, Dr. Demos, for your fantastic artwork, and congratulations on celebrating your 65th reunion this year!
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Did You Know? Class of 1960 Edition |
Thank you to alumnus and class rep Warren W. Furey, III, ’60 MD, ’67 GMER, who recently brought to our attention that the MD Class of 1960 was rich with Northwestern University Medical School history. Classmates Drs. Furey, Gerald Kenny, Karl Voegtlin, John Marquardt, and Bruce Gilliland all had fathers who also graduated from Northwestern’s medical school. Dr. Furey’s father graduated in 1922; Dr. Kenny’s father graduated in 1931; Dr. Voegtlin's father graduated in 1935; Dr. Marquardt's father graduated in 1927; and Dr. Gilliland's father graduated in 1930. Their sons would carry on their Northwestern legacy, all graduating with the MD Class of 1960. Congratulations to all the 1960 alumni celebrating their 60th reunion this year! |
James F. Bellenger, ’60 MD, recently shared a wonderful update with us. Dr. Bellenger is pictured in the photos above. The woman in the pictures with him is Martha Catherine Hotchkiss. Ms. Hotchkiss is not an Northwestern alumna, but someone he went to a school dance with in the 1940s, in Birmingham, Alabama. In September 2018, she reached out to him, and they discovered that they lived only an hour apart in Tennessee. They met up and have since reconnected a few times. They are now back in each other’s lives after all these years and were even featured in the local paper. Thank you to Dr. Bellenger for sharing this heartwarming story! |
Do you have news to share with us or know of an alumnus/a we should recognize in the newsletter? Post it on our Facebook page or email us at medalum@northwestern.edu. |
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"Who's Who in the Northwestern Neighborhood" |
For the past several years, alumnus Joseph Gugenheim, ’72 MD, has led popular city walking tours during Alumni Weekend. These highly sought-after tours are often the first events to fill up during reunion registration. In lieu of his in-person tours this year, he kindly agreed to record a short Zoom presentation for this newsletter, titled "Who's Who in the Northwestern Neighborhood," highlighting the biographies of 12 interesting individuals whose names you’ll see around and recognize next time that you’re on campus. You won't want to miss this fascinating presentation.
Thank you, Dr. Gugenheim! |
Celebrating Scholarships:
A Special Thank You to Our Scholarship Supporters |
Scholarships are one of our main priorities at the medical school. It also is one of the most rewarding and effective ways to stay connected to our medical students, ensuring that we help educate and train future medical professionals who are as accomplished as all of you.
Learn more about our students and the tremendous impact that your support has had in this "Special Thank You to Our Scholarship Supporters."
We also encourage you to read this Q&A with an anonymous member of the reunion Class of 1960, in which he offers advice and explains why he supports scholarships.
Thank you, to all of our incredible alumni donors who support scholarships and elevate our medical students. |
Recognizing Our NSD Members |
Nathan Smith Davis Society members make a difference every day at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. We celebrate this generous group of supporters and the impact they have made whether at our annual cocktail reception, or like this year, virtually. It is with deep appreciation that the Feinberg community says to our Davis Society members: THANK YOU.
Learn more about the Nathan Smith Davis Society. |
Join the PT Alumni Association for Yoga |
You’re invited to take part in a very special yoga class on Saturday, April 25, at 10 a.m. CST.
This Zoom yoga class, led by Suzanne Semanson, ’06 DPT, is being offered virtually by the Northwestern University Physical Therapy (NUPT) Alumni Association, for this one-hour session from the comfort of your own home.
Thank you to the NUPT Alumni Association for hosting this! |
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Dr. Semanson brings more than 20 years of experience in movement-related arts, including dance, martial arts, and yoga, to her specialty. She has provided backstage physical therapy care to several Broadway productions and dance companies in New York City. Dr. Semanson is a physical therapist from the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Langone Health Center.
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Complete CME Credits at Home
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Obtain CME credits at home and “listen to the people behind the science” with Feinberg’s Breakthroughs Podcast. Northwestern faculty and scientists share information on a host of topics and areas of medicine. Visit the Breakthroughs Podcast website for their complete podcast archives, as well as more information on CME credit and eligibility. |
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Take a Northwestern Direction From Home
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Go inside our world-class laboratories and classrooms, explore our state-of-the-art biomedical research facility, take virtual tours of our Simulation Lab and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, experience the Evanston campus, and take advantage of digital, on-demand content offered by the Block Museum. |
Did you know that you can explore our magnificent city without ever leaving your home? Experience our extraordinary museums and attractions, take a virtual tour, or peruse an art gallery.
Many of these venues offer free digital content:
For more information and digital experiences, visit choosechicago.com.
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Seeking Your Advice for a Graduating M4
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This year, the medical school Honors Day and Commencement Ceremony will be held virtually. As we welcome our newest members of the medical community, it's as important as ever to show how connected we are as alumni. If you have time, we would love to share your words of encouragement and wisdom with the next generation of physicians.
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The plan is to share an online message board with our graduating medical students in May. Please post your message via the link below and include your name, specialty, and graduation year. Only 2–3 lines are needed. If you have a picture to share, you can definitely include that in your post as well. Please follow this link.
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Having a Virtual Get-Together? |
We want to hear from you! How are you staying connected with your fellow alumni?
Are you Facetiming with a classmate? Hosting a Google Hangout for your medical student roommates? Having a class get-together on Zoom? Please take a screenshot of your digital get-together and send it to us. We will share your image in an upcoming issue of the Medical Alumni Association newsletter.
Hosting a larger digital meeting with your class? If you need assistance with getting the word out to your classmates, please reach out to Jillian Kurtz Brubaker at jillian.brubaker@northwestern.edu.
We’re happy to help send your invitation out!
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Join Us for These Upcoming Events!
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We live in an unprecedented and uncertain time, filled with stress, anxiety, and new realities for our home and work lives. It can be overwhelming, but Coco Cabrel ’87, ’89 MD, is here to help you take a few moments to re-center and take care of yourself, whatever your struggle may be. Dr. Cabrel will lead you through three meditations-without-meditating, or what she calls “The Calms.” Stay tuned after "The Calms" to hear more about Dr. Cabrel’s work and experiences during this global pandemic that we are all going through together. |
The Northwestern Alumni Association invites you to a virtual discussion via Zoom with Melissa Simon, MD ’06 GMEF, founding director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation and vice chair for clinical research in Northwestern Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Topics will include staying safe in pregnancy and the postpartum period during the pandemic, as well as providing information on coping with newborns and young children during quarantine. In this town hall-style session, Dr. Simon will be available to answer questions regarding caregiving during quarantine while also trying to manage a job and self-care. Participants are encouraged to submit questions along with their registration. |
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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine | Medical Alumni Association
420 East Superior Street, Rubloff Building, 9th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60611
medalum@northwestern.edu
312-503-8012
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