Celebrating Our Nathan Smith Davis Society Members

Left: Davis Society and Medical Alumni Association (MAA) Board member Javier Guevara Jr., ’12 MD, speaks with medical students at a Dinner with a Doc event in February 2020. Middle: Davis Society member and Chair of Ophthalmology Nicholas Volpe, MD, at the Annual Endowed Professors Luncheon in February 2020. Right: Larry and Christine Fee at the Institute for Global Health Gala in September 2019.

Hundreds of donors to Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine gather every spring to visit campus and learn about all the progress being made at Northwestern thanks to their support. Though the annual reception for members of our Nathan Smith Davis Society was canceled because of the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, Feinberg still applauds these partners and their impact on the medical school.

More than 2,000 alumni, faculty, friends, and staff members make up the Davis Society, a prestigious giving society honoring those who contribute to Feinberg’s growth, excellence, and competitiveness through their generous philanthropic gifts and volunteer service.

“Thank you to all of our Davis Society members for your commitment to our medical school and our mission to improve human health—a mission that is perhaps now more vital than ever,” said Alan Krensky, MD, executive for Development at Northwestern Medicine and vice dean for Development and Alumni Relations at Feinberg. “You play a crucial role in our community and have made so many of our accomplishments a reality.”

In fact, in fiscal year 2019 and the first half of 2020, Davis Society members supported hundreds of priorities across the medical school, including research and medical education initiatives, scholarships, fellowships, professorships, and more. Volunteers, recognized through the Service Society, participated in Alumni Physicians of Feinberg, served on boards for the Medical Alumni Association and Physical Therapy Alumni Association, and donated their time as medical school class representatives and Admissions Committee faculty interviewers.

Left: Louis Fazen,’69 MD, MPH; Jeffry Lawrence, ’79 MD; and William Land, ’87 MD, ’88 GME, at the Boston MAA Get Together in August 2019. Middle: Roopal Kundu, MD, at the 2019 Welcome BBQ for medical students. Right: The late Betty Hahneman Kolb, ’52 MD, ’56 GME, and Glenna Corley, MD, at the 2019 Commitment to Scholarships Luncheon.

“Leadership support of Feinberg sustains and strengthens our commitment to improve human health through education and discovery. For the Department of Neurological Surgery, that means your generosity propels us toward our mission to advance the science of neurological disorders at the forefront of medicine,” said Maciej S. Lesniak, MD, the Michael J. Marchese Professor and chair of Neurological Surgery, and professor of Surgery and Neurology in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology. “To my fellow members of the Nathan Smith Davis Society, thank you, and cheers!”

Giancarlo Atassi, a third-year medical student and recipient of the MD Endowed Scholarship, shared his gratitude to Davis Society members as well.

“Thank you, not just from myself but from classes future and past, for helping to train and support the next generation of clinicians, of leaders in their field, of world-changers,” Atassi said.

Learn more about the Nathan Smith Davis Society.

Left: Eugene Bauer, ’67 MD; Gloria Bauer; and Kurt Lu, MD, at Dr. Lu’s investiture as the Eugene and Gloria Bauer Professor of Dermatology in April 2019. Middle: Support from Nathan Smith Davis Society members was integral to the opening of a new state-of-the-art space for the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease, celebrated with a ribbon cutting in May 2019. Right: Davis Society and MAA Board member Melani Shaum, ’80 MD, and her family at the MAA Cubs Spring Training Game in March 2019.

Campaign Accomplishments

Together, Davis Society members have helped Feinberg surpass its $2 billion goal for We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern Medicine, which launched in September 2014.

Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Biomedical Research Center opened
8 institutes and centers funded, including the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease and the Arrhythmia Research Center
81 endowed professorships established (43% of 188 total professorships)
$100 million raised for scholarships (47% of $213 million total scholarship endowment)
$15.9 million raised for fellowships
$245+ million raised for research grants

All numbers as of March 31, 2020