Society of Surgical Oncology James Ewing Layman's Award Presented by Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi, Weill Cornell's Chairman of Surgery
NEW YORK (June 22, 2010) — In honor of his major support toward advancing cancer care, Sanford I. Weill is the recipient of the 2010 James Ewing Layman's Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology. Mr. Weill is chairman of the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College.
The award was presented by Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi, the Society's president, and the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and surgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The ceremony took place on March 6 at the Society's 63rd Annual President's Banquet, held at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis.
"I cannot overstate the contributions of Joan and Sandy Weill, whose steadfast support has extended our ability to research new treatments and provide the best available patient care across all areas of medicine, including cancer," said Dr. Michelassi. "Physicians, students and patients are all better off because of their remarkable leadership and vision."
Mr. Weill joined the Weill Cornell Medical College Board of Overseers in 1982, becoming chair in 1996. A trustee emeritus of Cornell University, he serves on the advisory council of its Johnson Graduate School of Management. In addition, he is a trustee of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and an overseer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Mr. Weill and his wife, Joan, have donated more than $800 million to organizations, including Weill Cornell Medical College; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Sidra, a teaching hospital to be completed in Doha, Qatar, in 2012; and Weill Bugando Medical Centre in Tanzania, one of Africa's top physician training programs.
Thanks to leadership by the Weills, construction is underway for a new Medical Research Building. The building will be the locus of the new Weill Cornell Cancer Center which was created to translate basic science discoveries into effective preventive and treatment strategies, create synergies in cancer research, advance global efforts in cancer prevention, and educate and train medical professionals and researchers.
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell has cancer programs in numerous areas, including the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute of Hematology and Oncology, the Lehman Brothers Lung Cancer Research Center, and the Multiple Myeloma Center.
Mr. Weill is a graduate of Cornell University. He and Joan have been married for 54 years and have two children and four grandchildren.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Cornell University is the first in the U.S. to offer a M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances -- including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with the Methodist Hospital in Houston, making Weill Cornell one of only two medical colleges in the country affiliated with two U.S.News & World Report Honor Roll hospitals. For more information, visit www.med.cornell.edu.
John Rodgers
jdr2001@med.cornell.edu