Honors and Awards
To recognize excellence and achievement, numerous honors and awards are made possible each year by the Minnesota Medical Foundation and its donors. For further information, click on the "more information" link at the end of the description or call Pat Tuomi at 612-626-3807.
Some awards are administered through the Medical school while others are determined by departments or other academic units. If applicable, nomination or application forms — including instructions for submitting supporting materials — are located in the 'more information' link at the end of the award descriptions.
The 2008 Honors and Awards Presentation will be held on April 18 from 12 to 2 p.m. in Memorial Hall, McNamara Center.
Past Award Winners
KEY: Faculty (F), Graduate Student (G), Resident (R), Student (S), Other (O)
Alpha Epsilon Iota Foundation Award (S)
This award honors one or more outstanding graduating senior women medical students. Awards are typically $1,000.
Wallace D. Armstrong Memorial Awards (S)
Two awards are presented annually, one to the medical student with the highest scholastic standing in biochemistry, and the other to the first-year dental student with the highest scholastic standing in biochemistry.
Bacaner Research Awards (G)
The award, limited to students who will complete Ph.D. requirements by Dec. 31 of that year, recognizes exceptional research achievement by graduate students in the basic sciences and cardiology. Nominations are made by the student's graduate advisor. More information.
Cyrus P. Barnum and Anne R. Barnum Graduate Student Travel Awards (G)
Travel awards are presented throughout the year as circumstances merit.
Cyrus P. Barnum Memorial Teaching Fellowships (G)
The awards recognize graduate students' teaching expertise in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics.
Basic Science and Clinical Teacher of the Year Awards, Duluth Campus (F)
The $500 awards recognize superior teaching at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus. The recipients are chosen by second-year class vote.
Dr. Leonard P. Burke Memorial Award (R)
The $750 award recognizes a graduating family medicine resident for unique service contributions. Selection is made by the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.
Dr. Luther Forest Davis Memorial Scholarship (S)
The award is presented to a senior medical student who has demonstrated outstanding clinical skills and who plans to be a family physician.
Distinguished Teaching Awards (F)
Lifetime Distinguished Teaching Awards (F)
The Distinguished Teaching Awards recognize superior teaching by Medical School-Twin Cities faculty. The six $1,000 awards are: Years One and Two Distinguished Teaching Award, Years Three and Four Distinguished Clinical Teaching Award, and Years Three and Four Distinguished Medical Resident Teaching Award. After the fifth Distinguished Teaching Award, an individual becomes a Lifetime Distinguished Teacher. All awards are determined by medical student nomination and vote. More information.
Dr. Kenneth F. Ernst Award in Pathology (G/R/S)
The award recognizes superior research in pathology by University medical or graduate students, residents, or fellows. The award amount is not fixed.
Exceptional Community Faculty Teaching Awards (F)
These new awards honor and encourage the kind of preceptorial teaching the medical students hold in esteem. Two $500 awards will be made to adjunct faculty who teach medical students in any of the four years of their training. More information.
N.L. and Sarah J. Gault International Study Award (S)
This award was established to encourage medical students to seek educational experiences in international health issues and to enable them to study in other countries.
Awards for Excellence in Geriatric Scholarship (R/S)
Two awards are presented each year by the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; one to a medical student for $1,000 and one to a resident for $2,000. Any University of Minnesota medical student or resident may submit a paper for consideration. More information.
Graduating Medical Student Research Awards (S)
The $1,000 awards are given for meritorious research to graduating medical students who have or are pursing any other advanced degree. Applications consist of a research paper, a letter of application, and one or more faculty letters of support. More information.
The Herz Faculty Teaching Development Awards (F)
The endowed award support faculty projects that seek to improve the medical curriculum and teaching skills. Faculty with demonstrated interest in teaching, leadership, creativity, and educational innovation receive preference. More information.
Richard C. Horns Memorial Award (S)
This $1,000 award recognizes an undergraduate medical student for the development of outstanding clinical skills. Individuals are nominated by the Medical School Office of Student Affairs.
Maynard and Elaine Jacobson International Study Award (S)
This award was established to facilitate the development of future leaders in health care, medical education, and research through the sharing of education and experiences among students and teachers in a different cultural and medical environment.
J. Jacob Kaplan Award (G/S)
Three $4,000 awards are presented annually recognizing outstanding research in each of the following areas: cardiology, immunology in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and gastroenterology. Undergraduate or graduate medical students are eligible. More information.
Herbert G. Lampson Memorial Award (S)
This award honors an outstanding second-year female medical student on the Duluth campus for excellence in scholarship and contributions to the student community.
Laird W. and Mary C. Lampson Award (S)
The award honors an outstanding second-year male medical student on the Duluth campus for excellence in scholarship and contributions to the student community.
Harold Lawn Student Award (S)
The award is presented by the Department of Psychiatry for the best paper written by a student in the Psychiatric externship.
Leonard Tow Student Humanism in Medicine Award (S/F)
Leonard Tow Faculty Humanism in Medicine Award
The award promotes the integration of humanism in the delivery of care to patients and their families. More information.
Sidney Licht Memorial Lecture (O)
The honorarium of $1,000 to a distinguished physician provides up to two days of teaching, plus expenses. The Visiting Licht Clinician is selected by the chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Lifson/Johnson Memorial Award (G/S)
The award honors excellence in teaching by undergraduate or graduate students. Selection is by the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology.
J. Thomas Livermore Memorial Award (S)
The award recognizes outstanding undergraduate research in hematology. Nominations are reviewed by the Minnesota Medical Foundation's Honors and Awards Committee. More information.
Jan Lunden Award (G/S)
The $1,000 award honors outstanding research by a graduate or medical student in the field of molecular hepatology. The recipient is chosen by an ad hoc faculty committee. More information.
Patrick J. Manning Research Award (F)
The annual award is given to individuals who have shown special efforts on behalf of research animals and consequently on behalf of science. Recipients are chosen through a nomination and selection process coordinated by the Patrick J. Manning Research Award Selection Committee.
Medical Student Achievement Awards (S)
The $1,000 awards recognize leadership, community service, academic achievement, and research by fourth-year medical students. Nominations are accepted from medical students, faculty, student organizations, or other persons associated with medical students. More information.
Medical Student International Study Awards (S)
The purpose of the awards is to encourage undergraduate medical students to seek educational experiences in international health issues and to help enable medical students to study in another country. The awards support a wide variety of student projects in basic and applied research, clinical work, and public health, ranging from service in rural clinics in underdeveloped countries to clinical or laboratory work in Western-style teaching hospitals in industrialized countries.
Memorial Award (S)
The award recognizes an outstanding second-year medical student on the Duluth campus who has shown kindness and generosity to others.
Metropolitan-Mount Sinai Outstanding Second-year Medical Student Award (S)
Metropolitan-Mount Sinai Outstanding Fourth-year Medical Student Award (S)
The awards honor two medical students who are regarded by their classmates as the most well-rounded and likely to become the most outstanding physicians or clinicians. More information: second-year and fourth-year.
Beatrice Z. Milne and Theodore Brandenburg Awards (G)
The fund recognizes outstanding research by graduate students in the basic sciences. Students are nominated by the Chair of each Department in Basic Sciences. More information.
Outstanding Medical School Teacher Award (F)
The $2,000 award recognizes faculty who have made outstanding contributions to the education of physicians and medical students. Awards are given in two categories: basic science and clinical science. Nominations are accepted from the Medical School community, including faculty, staff, students, and medical residents. More information.
Mary Bizal Peterson Memorial Award (S)
This award is presented to the senior medical student planning a residency in neurology at the University of Minnesota who is judged the best candidate by a Department of Neurology selection committee.
Roth-Steer Award for Research in Alzheimer's Disease (G/S)
The $900 award is presented for outstanding research related to Alzheimer's Disease by a graduate, medical, or post-doctoral student. The recipient is chosen by an ad hoc faculty committee. More information.
Roza Steer Breast Cancer Research Award (G/S)
The $1,000 award is presented for outstanding research by a graduate student or medical student in the field of breast cancer. The recipient is chosen by an ad hoc faculty committee. More information.
Rural Physician Associate Program Preceptor Achievement Award (O)
The $500 award is presented for excellence in teaching RPAP students. Preceptors are nominated by students.
Rural Physician Associate Program Student Achievement Award (S)
The $1,000 award is presented to an RPAP student who excels in academic accomplishment and demonstrates noteworthy community involvement. Students are nominated by their preceptors.
Schmit-Steer Award (G)
The award is presented annually for outstanding research in basic biological chemistry by a Ph.D. candidate. The recipient is chosen by an ad hoc faculty committee. More information.
Gloria Segal Award in Psychiatry (S)
This award recognizes two senior medical students, one from the University of Minnesota Medical School and one from the Mayo Medical School, for outstanding academic and professional performance during the third year clinical psychiatry rotation.
Wesley M. Spink International Research Award (S)
This award provides stipends to medical students for international research projects.
Steer Family Award in Diabetes Research (G/S)
The $1,000 award is presented for outstanding research by a graduate or medical student in the field of diabetes mellitus. The recipient is chosen by an ad hoc faculty committee. More information.
Steer-Johnson Award (G/S)
The award is presented annually for outstanding research by undergraduate or graduate students in the field of general physiology, pulmonary physiology, or cardiovascular physiology in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology. Selection is by a committee in the Department. This year there will be two awards at $500 each.
Steer-Pruitt Award (G)
The $1,000 award is presented annually for outstanding cardiovascular research by a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Twin Cities. The recipient is chosen by an ad hoc faculty committee. More information.
Thorne and Sweeney Stroke Award (F/G/S)
This $5,000 award is given to encourage research related to stroke and honors outstanding accomplishment in this area. Faculty, staff, and students may apply. More information.
Veneziale-Steer Award (G/S)
The $1,000 award is presented annually for outstanding research by a graduate or medical student in the field of cellular growth regulation. The recipient is chosen by an ad hoc faculty committee. More information.
Cecil J. Watson Award (G)
The $2,500 award(s) is given each year for the most outstanding research by a physician in graduate clinical training in any clinical department of the Medical School. More information.