Foundation Awards
Click here for a press release with more information on the 2011 Awards Ceremony.
Nina Starr Braunwald Award
Established through an endowment, the AWS Foundation recognizes service by giving this award to a member or non-member surgeon in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of women in surgery.
The 2011 Award recipient
was Margaret Dunn, MD, FACS,
Executive Associate Dean at Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State
University and President and CEO of Wright State Physicians.
Past Award Winners:
- Julie Freischlag, MD, FACS (2010)
- Susan Miller Briggs, MD, MPH, FACS (2009)
- M. Margaret Kemeny, MD, FACS (2008)
- Nancy Ascher, MD, FACS (2007)
- The American College of Surgeons (2006)
- Karin Muraszko, MD, FACS (2005)
- Barbara Lee Bass, MD, FACS (2004)
- Mary C. McCarthy, MD, FACS (2003)
- Susan M. Love, MD, FACS (2002)
- Linda G. Phillips, MD, FACS (2001)
- Anna Marie Ledgerwood, MD, FACS (2000)
- Patricia Numann, MD, FACS (1998)
- Leslie J. Kohman, MD, FACS (1997)
- Patricia K. Donahoe, MD, FACS (1996)
- Kathryn D. Anderson, MD, FACS (1995)
- Olga Jonasson, MD, FACS (1994)
- Claude Organ, MD, FACS (1993)
Olga Jonasson
Distinguished Member Award
This award is named in memory of Olga Jonasson, MD, who was the first female chair of an academic department of surgery and a leader in the American College of Surgeons. The award is given to a member surgeon who exemplifies the ideals and mission of the assocation.
The 2011 Award recipient was Pauline Chen, MD, FACS, Transplant Surgeon and columnist for the New York Times.
Past Award Winners:
- Gayle Woodson, MD, FACS (2010)
- Kimberly Ephgrave, MD, FACS (2009)
- Dixie Mills, MD, FACS (2008)
- Myriam Curet, MD, FACS (2007)
- Leigh Neumayer, MD, FACS (2006)
Distinguished Member Award
A part of the AWS Foundation awards since 1990, the Distinguished Member Award was given to a member surgeon who exemplified the ideals and mission of the assocation. It was renamed in 2006 to the Olga Jonasson Distinguished Member Award.
Past Award Winners:
Patricia Lowery, MD, FACS (2005)
Linda Brodsky, MD, FACS (2004)
Adrienne Krausz, MD (2003)
Lena M. Napolitano, MD, FACS (2002)
Margaret Dunn, MD, FACS (2002)
Mary McCarthy, MD, FACS (2001)
Sylvia Ramos, MD, FACS (2001)
Julie Ann Freischlag, MD, FACS (2000)
Karen S. Guice, MD, FACS (1999)
Joyce Majure, MD, FACS (1998)
Gloria Sarto, MD, PhD (1998)
Barbara Lee Bass, MD, FACS (1997)
Carol Scott-Connor, MD, FACS (1997)
Maria Allo, MD, FACS (1996)
Barbara Kinder, MD, FACS (1996)
Frances K. Conley, MD, FACS (1995)
Sally Abston, MD, FACS (1994)
Tamar Earnest, MD, FACS (1994)
Jessie Ternberg, MD, FACS (1994)
Hughenna Gauntlett, MD, FACS (1993)
Nina Starr Braunwald, MD, FACS (1992)
Olga Jonasson, MD, FACS (1992)
Alma Dea Morani, MD, FACS (1992)
Patricia Numann, MD, FACS (1991)
Christine Haycock, MD, FACS (1990)
AWS Past Presidents' Honorary Member Award
Effective January 2011, the Claude Organ Honorary Member Award was renamed.
The 2011 Award recipients were John L. Tarpley, MD and Margaret Tarpley MLS of Vanderbilt University.
Claude Organ Honorary Member Award
Formerly the Honorary Member Award, this is given to individuals supportive of the goals of the association. It was renamed in 2007 in honor of Claude Organ, MD, FACS, who was an avid supporter of AWS and the proud recipient of our first Nina Starr Braunwald Award.
Past Award Winners:
- Lasalle D. Leffall, Jr., MD (2010)
- John Davis, MD (2009)
- Carlos Pellegrini, MD (2009)
- Michael Zinner, MD, FACS (2008)
- Frank Lewis, MD (2007)
Honorary Member Award
Another AWS Foundation award which started in 1990, the Honorary Member Award was given to individuals supportive of the goals of the association. It was renamed in 2007 in honor of Claude Organ, MD, FACS.
Past Award Winners:
- Professor Averil Mansfield, CBE, FRCS, FACS (2006)
- Morris Kerstein, MD, FACS (2005)
- Courtney M. Townsend, Jr., MD, FACS (2004)
- Ajit Sachdeva, MD, FACS (2003)
- Karen Licitra (2002)
- Monica Maillet, PhD (2001)
- John T. Preskitt, Sr., MD, FACS (2000)
- David Majure (1999)
- Debra A. DaRosa, PhD (1998)
- Judith K. Keel (1997)
- Linn Meyer (1995)
- Marlys Witte, MD (1994)
- Janet Bickel, MA (1992)
- Ellen More (1992)
- Judith Briles, PhD (1990)
Hilary Sanfey Outstanding Resident Award
Formerly the AWS Outstanding Resident Award, it was recently renamed to reflect the generous endowment established by Dr. Sanfey to support the award's annual funding. Nominees will be surgical trainees who are in primary residency training in either general surgery or a surgical specialty at the time of nomination, and who demonstrate potential as future leaders in surgery.
The 2011 Award recipient was Maureen Tedesco, MD of Stanford University.
Past Award Winners:
- Elizabeth David, MD (2010)
- Victoria Stager, MD (2010)
- Nancy Cho, MD (2009)
- Lesly Dossett, MD (2009)
- Traci Hedrick, MD (2009)
- Amy Vertrees, MD (2009)
- Jennifer Waljee, MD (2009)
- Jennifer LaFemina, MD (2008)
- Erika Adams Newman, MD (2007)
- Louisa L. Pecchioni, MD (2006)
- Leora Balsam, MD (2005)
- Gretchen P. Purcell, MD, PhD (2004)
- Patricia Turner (2003)
- Melina Kibbe (2002)
- Anna Santos-Quinones (2001)
- Carol Sawmiller (2000)
- Janice Cormier (1999)
Patricia Numann Medical Student Award
Named in honor of the founder of AWS,
this award was established to encourage and support
female medical students pursuing a career in surgery. The winner
is chosen based on her expressed interest in surgery, potential
leadership qualities or research contributions to the field of
surgery, response in a personal statement, and letter of
recommendation. Nominees should be in the clinical years of medical
school at the time of receiving the award in October.
The 2011 Award recipient is Rajshri Mainthia, studying at Vanderbilt University.
Medical Student and Resident Poster CompetitionPast Award Winners:
- Shelly Choo (2010)
- Juliet Emamaulee (2009)
- Aminata Sallah (2008)
- Rebecca Snyder (2007)
- Ann Vaughters (2006)
- Erika Manning (2005)
- Kelley Hutcheson (2004)
- Sudha Jayaraman (2003)
The Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) offers an
Annual Medical Student and Resident Poster Competition. It is
designed to facilitate interaction and idea exchange between
students interested in surgery, surgical residents, and faculty
members of various institutions. Each year, ten medical students and ten
residents will be invited to present their research posters at the
AWS Annual Conference (held in conjunction with the American College of
Surgeons Clinical Congress). Authors selected to
participate will be asked to register for the AWS conference.
Recognition and a monetary prize will be awarded for the top three
medical student posters and top three resident posters. The top
student and resident poster winner will also receive a complimentary
ticket to the AWS Awards Dinner.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact us by e-mail.
The 2011 Medical Student winners were:
- 1st Place - Analise Thomas, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
- 2nd Place - Voranaddha Vacharathit, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
- 3rd Place - Eziamaha Okafor, Duke University School of Medicine
The 2011 Resident Winners were:
- 1st Place - Irena Gribovskaja-Rupp, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin
- 2nd Place - Tara Krosch, MD, University of Minnesota
- 3rd Place - Fabienne Gray, MD, Children's Hospital Boston