Earthquake in Haiti…tsunami in Sri Lanka…bombing in Oklahoma City…while nations are still reeling in shock and the world looks on aghast, you more often than not are already on the scene treating victims. An emergency room physician in Sacramento and director of regional emergency management, your employer, Kaiser Permanente, has allowed you at the same time to become an international leader in disaster medicine. In addition to volunteering at more than a dozen crises, you have trained in this work more than seven hundred doctors and two thousand paramedics. So it was no surprise when Ebola broke out in west Africa, aid workers were dying at the scene, and volunteers were scarce, that you were one of the few to hop a plane. “There’s a need,” you said, “I feel the pull to go.” In addition to treating patients, you led the development of two treatment centers and the training of more than 150 medical workers. A colleague, explaining your effectiveness, says you have “the skills to understand, organize, teach, and orchestrate a successful plan that could halt a devastating epidemic.” Skilled hands, a large heart, a global view, the ability to analyze, communicate, and lead…this sounds like the best possible description of a liberal arts graduate.
In recognition of your distinguished achievement in disaster medicine, Williams College is proud to honor you with its Bicentennial Medal.
September 19, 2015
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