On Feb. 28, three Stanford alumni were honored with the Dean’s Medal, one of the highest honors bestowed by the School of Medicine, which recognizes individuals whose scientific, medical, humanitarian or other contributions have significantly advanced the mission of Stanford Medicine.
The 2015 recipients of the Dean’s Medal are Mariann Byerwalter ’82, William Brody M.D. ’70 Ph.D. ’72 and John Scully MBA ’68.
“Mariann Byerwalter is a visionary individual who has worked tirelessly on behalf of Stanford Medicine, helping provide financial stability and recruit new faculty to lead the enterprise,” said Dean of Stanford Medical School Lloyd Minor to the Stanford Medicine News. “Bill Brody is a remarkable innovator in the field of imaging and has made significant contributions to advancing academic medicine and supporting research, education and patient care. John Scully has brought his natural leadership, passion for cutting-edge science and personal resources to bear in significantly advancing the field of stem cell medicine and helping to expand the possibilities of what we can accomplish at Stanford Medicine.”
Byerwalter is currently on the board of directors of Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and chairs the board of directors of SRI International Inc., continuing her over 30 years of service to the University.
As a Stanford senior, she received the Wallace Sterling Award for outstanding academic achievement. She was elected to the University’s Board of Trustees in the early 90s and joined the board of the children’s hospital afterwards. In 1996, Byerwalter served as the University’s chief financial officer and vice president for business affairs, a position she held for six years.
Brody, a former Stanford faculty member who is now president of the Salk Institute of Biological Studies, combined his interest in medicine and engineering while at Stanford. For his electrical engineering Ph.D. project, he worked with heart surgeon Norman Shumway and director of Stanford’s Integrated Circuits Laboratory James Meindl to work on a method that used ultrasound to measure blood flow during heart rejection.
He later did his fellowship and residency in cardiac surgery at Stanford and joined the faculty in diagnostic radiology. During his time here, Brody also came up with the innovation for one of the first open MRI machines.
Brody then left Stanford to become the chair of radiology at Johns Hopkins University and became president of John Hopkins in 1996, a position he held for 12 years.
Scully, a board member of Stanford Health Care and the managing director of the investment firm SPO Partners & Co., attended Princeton University as an undergraduate and later came to the Graduate School of Business to earn an MBA.
Scully began his own investment banking firm at age 26 and became involved in many philanthropic ventures. He joined the Board of Trustees in 2000, serving for 10 years that included four years as vice chair, before becoming a board member for Stanford Health Care. Scully, together with his wife Regina, has been a major contributor to the stem cell program at Stanford Medicine.
Contact Catherine Zaw at czaw13 ‘at’ stanford.edu.