Revamped Alumni Weekend Unites Boston University Medical Campus
Boston University Alumni Weekend ’09 was held Friday, October 23 to Sunday, October 25 and featured events for alumni from every school. This year, for the first time, combined events were held for all three schools on the Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC).
The William J. Bicknell Lectureship in Public Health kicked things off on Friday morning and featured a lecture titled, ” Is There Such a Thing as a Safe(r) Cigarette?: Tobacco Legislation and the FDA,” by 2009 Bicknell Lecturer and Professor of the Practice of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health Dr. Gregory Connolly. Later that evening a Dean’s Recognition Dinner was held at the Trustees Ballroom. The dinner honored major annual fund donors from the three schools and included performances and instruction by the Boston University Ballroom Dance Club.
Saturday morning a BUMC Alumni College event titled, “Health Care Reform and the Promise to Address Health Outcomes Disparities,” took place in the Bakst Auditorium and included a keynote speech by former Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan MED 58, as well as a panel discussion by faculty experts from BUMC, including Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) Professor and Assistant Dean for Community Partnerships and Extramural Affairs Dr. Michelle Henshaw.
Saturday evening the Medical Campus Gala was held at the Westin Waterfront. Approximately 250 alumni, faculty, staff, students, and guests gathered for dinner, live music, and dancing.
“I was pleased to see alumni from all three schools on the Medical Campus come together at the Gala to to celebrate their past and present educational and professional successes,” said Dean Jeffrey Hutter.
During the event two GSDM awards were given. The first went to Donald Feldman ORTHO 71 for his service to the School, which was presented to him by his son, Craig Feldman ORTHO 02 and Steve Perlman PEDO 76. Dr. Feldman maintains a private practice in Lynn with his son and is well known in the community as a generous practitioner and a gifted fundraiser for many causes. Dr. Feldman has served as President of the Massachusetts Society of Orthodontics and as Chairman of the North Shore Dental Society. He has been instrumental in alumni fundraising efforts at GSDM for many years.
The second went to Pamela Baldassarre DMD 82, PERIO 84 for her service to the profession. Dr. Baldassarre began her career as an Assistant Clinical Instructor at GSDM while in private practice in Framingham. She now practices periodontology full-time in Bedford and Nashua, New Hampshire.
Dr. Baldassarre is the first woman to lead the New Hampshire Dental Society and has served as Delegate at Large and Political Action Committee Chair for the organization. She is Past President and Trustee, Greater Nashua Dental Society; and Chair of the American Dental Association Council on Membership.
On Sunday the GSDM Alumni Board held a meeting which Dean Jeffrey Hutter attended to brief GSDM’s alumni leaders on the state of the School. The Board also discussed the newly established Alumni Leadership Advisory Forum (ALAF), which will bring together no more than two representatives of all Boston University Alumni Association (BUAA) component organizations at least twice a year to represent the alumni’s interests, advise the Boston University Alumni Council (BUAC), and serve as a communication and advisory conduit between the BUAC and other alumni networks or organizations. In addition, the Board reviewed current progress and new ideas for the five-year plan they established at last year’s meeting.
Other alums attended the SoWa Open Market to experience eclectic shopping in the heart of the BU Medical Campus on Harrison Avenue.