JON B. SYREN AWARD
Background
Jon Benedict Syren expected to graduate from the University of Washington School of Medicine in the Class of 1993. He began his medical training in Anchorage, Alaska, in the fall of 1989 as a member of the first class of WWAMI students enrolled in the Biomedical Program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. While at Seattle during his third year of medical school, Jon developed a cancer that took his life ten months later in Anchorage on August 3, 1992. He left a wife and two children.
Jon, the youngest of eight children, was born in Anchorage on July 16, 1965, where he attended Abbott Loop School and Service High School. After earning a bachelor's degree at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, he finished his premedical education at the University of Alaska Anchorage. During his medical training, Jon distinguished himself by earning honors in several categories of studies, both in Anchorage and Seattle. He is also remembered by those who knew him for his strong commitment to his family and his faith, and for his unflagging courage and equanimity in the face of personal adversity.
Purpose
The Jon B. Syren Award recognizes a first-year medical student in the University of Alaska Anchorage WWAMI Biomedical Program who has demonstrated personal qualities of character, integrity, and compassion, combined with a commitment to and promise of community service in medicine. The student must also be in good academic standing.
The Award
The award shall consist of an engraved plaque and gift certificate to be presented to the recipient at Anchorage in an appropriate ceremony near the end of the second semester of the academic year.
Eligibility and Selection Process
All first-year medical students in the UAA WWAMI Biomedical Program shall be eligible. Nominations for the award are submitted to the Director of the Biomedical Program by April 1 each year. Nominations may be made by individual members of the current class or by UAA WWAMI Biomedical Program faculty or staff. The Director of the WWAMI Biomedical Program shall select two faculty members from the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course, and the three shall review the nominations and in consultation determine the recipient of the award. If no suitable candidates are nominated, the award will not be presented that year.
Recipients of the Jon B. Syren Award
2008 - Amanda Beery |
2000 - Robert Lawrence |