Letter from the alumni association

Dear Colleagues,

As associate professor Susan Knox, MD, ’85, takes our association’s helm, this is a good time to look back and project forward. This can be dizzying, but hang on, because we are on a great ride.

• We have changed our name to the Stanford University Medical Center Alumni Association. We can now include and support all graduate degree-receiving students, not just MDs.
• Our diversity committee began surveying members’ interests in diversity-related activities; met with our school’s senior associate dean for diversity and leadership, Hannah Valantine, and helped plan this year’s spring meeting and reunion, which focused on the strengths of Stanford’s openness to gender, racial, cultural and age differences.
• We decided to establish prizes for faculty and staff who build community within and outside of Stanford medical center.
• On his own initiative, board of governors member Norman Tong, MD, ’68, invited friends and colleagues to lunches with esteemed professors Halsted Holman and William Creger. One unexpected benefit was hearing how the faculty appreciated us!

Our future work will flourish most fully if we measure our impact, commit to long-range activities and accrue sufficient budget, staff and on-campus space. With this armamentarium, we will serve the university and school as we move into a major fund-raising campaign scheduled for public launch in 2006.

On the topic of fund raising: One of the high points of being a donor is receiving thank-you notes. Here’s an excerpt: “Thank you so much for your [and other alumni] kindness and generosity in donating … to make my medical education possible. I feel incredibly privileged to be at such an outstanding and unique medical school.” We have great opportunities ahead!

Cordially,

Linda Hawes Clever, MD ’65
Past President, Stanford University Medical Center Alumni Association

Back To Contents