In 2007, the University of Southern Nevada
presented the first Champion of Health Care in Education Awards in
an effort to recognize those outstanding citizens in our community
who help to further both education and health care. Each
year, three deserving individuals are selected and honored at USN's
annual Scholarship Gala. Below is a list of past honorees.
2007
Ann Lynch
strived for more than 40 years to improve the accessibility and
quality of health care and education in Southern Nevada through her
work at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, the PTA and countless
other community, health and educational organizations. She
helped to establish the Sunrise Children’s Hospital Foundation, the
Baby Your Baby Program and the Health Care Coalition for
Nevada. Her work in instituting immunizations for
children in Clark County Schools has saved countless lives.
Dr.
Giuseppe Pizzorno, VP of Operations, Associate Director for
Translational Research and Division Head of Drug Development for
Nevada Cancer Institute, received his Medical Chemistry and
Pharmaceutical Science degrees from the University Of Genoa, Italy
and joined Yale’s Comprehensive Cancer Center faculty of Internal
Medicine, Pediatrics and Pharmacology Research Unit. He was
one of the early visionaries and creators of the Nevada Cancer
Institute. This scientist’s work has helped in the development of
new anti-cancer therapies through Phase I and Phase II clinical
trials. In addition, he is helping to mentor a future
generation of scientists by developing a novel science camp for
children.
Dr. Anthony
Pollard, founder of Rainbow Medical Centers, looked at the
growth of Las Vegas and positioned his clinics to ensure quality
medical care was provided for all rapid growth areas. This
caring physician identified special needs affecting our population
and developed programs in diabetes, anxiety/depression, health at
work and 90 day coverage for workers. He started the “Rainbow
Dreams Scholarships” for Clark County students 17 years ago and has
coordinated five Juneteenth Festivals. His work has sponsored the
Black Nurses Association’s Western Regional Symposiums.
2008
Rod Davis, MBA,
FACHE, President/CEO, St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, Nevada’s only
not-for-profit, non-tax-supported acute health care provider for
over 17 years. Under his leadership, St. Rose Dominican
Hospitals worked with Barbara Greenspun Women’s Care Center of
Excellence and launched Henderson’s only open heart surgical and
pediatric intensive care center programs. This pioneer in
health care has stressed quality as a hallmark of St. Rose
operations with highly successful results, winning top national
awards such as a five-star rating by Health Grades and top patient
satisfaction in the US. He was named one of the most
respected CEO’s in the country.
Steve
Schorr, Vice President of Cox Communications, is a well known
and respected broadcast journalist both in Nevada and
Nationally. He is known as a promoter of community change and
a leader and liaison to all local, state and federal elected
officials. This multi-talented community leader was a
broadcast journalist and news anchor for KLAS-TV as well as
stations in Richmond and Philadelphia, winning Emmy Awards,
National Freedom Foundation Awards, Armstrong Award for
Broadcasting and inducted into the inaugural class of the
Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Through Cox, he has focused on
finding homes for orphaned special needs children, founded and
spearheaded Healthy Kids & Families, helped create Nevada Child
Seekers and was honored as a Nevada Points Of Light
recipient.
Barbara Greenspun, founder of the Barbara Greenspun
Women’s Care Center of Excellence, mother of four, grandmother of
ten and great-grandmother of four. She spent much of her life
as the silent force next to her husband, Hank Greenspun, helping to
run the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, starting the valley’s first
TV station, KLAS-TV, and founding the city’s first cable station,
now Cox Communications. She also helped her husband develop
the first master planned community in Southern Nevada, Green
Valley. They founded the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism
and the Barbara Greenspun Lecture Series at UNLV. She helped
to found the Sun Summer Camp Fund. She received so many local
state and national awards, that they can’t all be listed. Her
guidance, support and insight have helped numerous non-profits in
our community.
2009
Paula Francis, evening news anchor and medical reporter for
KLAS-TV, has a long history of supporting both education and health
care in our community. Paula started the “Buddy Check 8”
program which has saved countless lives by making women aware of
the need for monthly breast self-exam for breast cancer. She
is on the cutting edge of all medical news bringing the facts to
her viewers to save lives. She has helped numerous
non-profits and has received humanitarian awards for her work on
behalf of women and children.
Dr. Florence Jameson, physician of obstetrics and
gynecology with a thriving practice and founder/creator of
Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada. She has recruited
physicians, nurses, medical assistants, lab technicians, social
workers and more to donate their time for the first organization to
offer free medical care for the un-insured and under-served in our
community. She now has over 300 volunteering. Support
from St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, Universal Health Services and
HCA, in addition to Nevada's Attorney General and Las Vegas Mayor
Oscar Goodman have helped Dr. Jameson to further her medical
outreach.
Claudine Williams, Chair of Community Affairs of
Harrah’s Entertainment, was co-owner of the Silver Slipper Casino,
President and General Manager of the Holiday Casino, Chair of the
Board of Harrah’s Las Vegas, Chair of the Board of Nevada Commerce
Bank, UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees, Cox Communications
Advisory Board, Clark County Public Education Foundation Board and
the Nevada Restaurant Association Educational Foundation Advisory
Board. Her support of education and health care extended her
philanthropic efforts. She was instrumental as a commissioner
with the Nevada State Commission on Tourism, Chair of the Board of
Trustees for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and so many other
community civic and non-profit organizations, that there is not
enough room to list them and the local, state, national and
international honors she received. Her work as a
philanthropist was legendary.
2010
Dr. Timothy Wilson, pediatric dentist and owner of
two Star Smiles Children’s Dentistry offices in Las Vegas, is a
graduate of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and
residency at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. As
part of Dr. Wilson’s philanthropic efforts, he treats disadvantaged
children in Nevada and throughout South America and has been named
“The Ambassador of Smiles.” He was recently recognized by the
Operation Smile Foundation in Beverly Hills with an award for
philanthropy for children.
Robert Fisher, President and CEO of Nevada
Broadcasters Association, has been seen and heard for over 15 years
on his weekly public affairs radio show, “Observations,” on 25
stations and his weekly TV show for eight years on five stations.
He was instrumental in getting legislation passed by the Nevada
Senate and Assembly to classify trained and certified broadcasters
as “first responders” during and emergency. He was also
instrumental in bringing Amber Alert to our state and serves as the
State Amber Alert Coordinator and Chair of its review
committee. The Attorney General of the United States
presented him with the first Amber Alert Media Award in Washington,
DC. He is an original member of the Nevada Homeland Security
Commission where he serves as Chair of the legislative and rural
counties committees. Bob is involved with numerous non-profits and
has served on two boards with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce,
and as founding clergy for Midbar Kodesh Temple in Henderson.
Larry Ruvo, Senior Managing Director of Nevada’s largest
wholesale liquor, wine and beer importer and distributor, has been
in business for over 40 years. He is well known in Las Vegas
for his ongoing support of charitable organizations, many of which
are associated with education and children. Larry helped to
establish the Meadows School and is a Trustee for the UNLV
Foundation. His numerous philanthropic endeavors go from
Nevada to an international scope. After losing his father to
Alzheimer ’s disease, Larry made it his mission to make progress
towards a cure for it and other neurological diseases. He
established The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
and the Keep the Memory Alive organization to fund research and
change medical history. The center has become the world’s
epicenter for neurocognitive research, hosting numerous
international symposiums and seminars. He has been knighted
and recognized by President Bush to serve as a member of the
prestigious Advisory Committee to the Arts and co-chair the George
W. Bush Presidential Center. Larry has received numerous
leadership and philanthropist awards from numerous
organizations.
