College of Medicine and Life Sciences Alumni
Your University of Toledo Alumni Association is here to provide you with the resources you need to make your post-university experience
exactly how you want it to be. There are so many ways for you to get involved and
stay connected with your alma mater.
Once you become a member of The University of Toledo Alumni Association, you will receive the monthly e-magazine with articles about fellow alumni, class notes and happenings around the University.
Visit our beautiful campuses for Homecoming and Art on the Mall! Alumni around the country and even across the globe can join your local alumni chapter and attend watch parties for UToledo Rocket sporting events, wine tastings and enjoy networking opportunities that wouldn’t be available to you without your UToledo Alumni Association.
View upcoming events and photos and connect with the Alumni Association
Alumni Awards
Each year during Homecoming Weekend, we honor some of our outstanding alumni. Watch these videos that profile the exciting work these two physicians are doing in their communities. Here are recent honorees:
2024
UToledo honored one of our alumni at the 2025 Homecoming Gala. Dr. Lisa Lattanza received the College of Medicine and Life Sciences Distinguished Alumni.
Dr. Lattanza, Class of 1993, is chair of orthopaedics and rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine, previously practicing at University of California San Francisco for 20 years. She specializes in post-traumatic and congenital reconstruction of the upper extremity in children and adults and is a leader in 3D surgical planning. (View her awardee video)
We also celebrated UToledo Health Distinguished Alumni Healthcare Provider, Dr. Puneet Sindhwani, chair in the Department of Urology and the Kenneth A. Kropp Endowed Professor of Urology, at the Gala and parade. (View his awardee video)
2023
UToledo honored one of our alumni at the 2024 Homecoming Gala. Dr. Jennifer Christner, received the College of Medicine and Life Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.
Dr. Christner, Class of 1995, has served in a variety of roles in her 20 years as an executive leader spanning both clinical and education missions. Currently, she is the senior dean of the Schools of Medicine and Health Professions at Baylor College of Medicine. We are proud to celebrate her accomplishments. Learn more about the awards.
2022
UToledo honored one of our alumni at the 2022 Homecoming Gala. Dr. Ada D. Stewart, Class of 2000, received the College of Medicine and Life Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.
She has been a practicing family physician with Cooperative Health since 2012 and serves as its lead provider and HIV specialist. A member of the American Academy of Family Physicians since 1995, Dr. Stewart has served in several leadership positions at the state and national level. Dr. Stewart also has committed her career to ensuring uninsured and low-income families have access to high-quality healthcare. Learn more about the awards.
2021
The 2021 Gold T award was presented to Dr. Thomas Wakefield, a 1975 graduate of UToledo and a 1978 graduate of the former Medical College of Ohio, who brings more than 40 years of expertise to his role as section head of vascular surgery service at the University of Michigan Medical Center, a position he has held since 2004. The Gold T award is presented to a University of Toledo graduate in recognition of outstanding achievement in her or his field of endeavor, while providing leadership and noteworthy service to the community.
Dr. Cynthia Tracy, ’79, received the College of Medicine and Life Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award. Learn more about the awards.
2019
We welcomed home our 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Dr. Ann Berger, ’88, Chief of Pain and Palliative Care at the National Institutes of Health, during Homecoming weekend in October. She presented a lecture, “The Three Necessary Elements for Palliative Care: Clinical Care, Education and Research” to faculty, staff, students and residents. Dr. Berger gave an enlightening seminar on palliative care, healing connections, and the importance of population as well as individualized care.
2018
Dr. Tom Wakefield, ’73
Alumni Association Blue T Award, 2018
The Blue T is presented to a UToledo Alumni Association member and University graduate who has made outstanding contributions to the progress and development of the Alumni Association and his or her alma mater.
Dr. Tom Wakefield is the 2018 recipient. He received an undergraduate degree in premed in 1970 and a medical degree from the former Medical College of Ohio in 1973.
Wakefield is the James C. Stanley Professor of Surgery, section head of vascular surgery and director of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center at the University of Michigan. He has received nearly $26 million in funded grants for vascular research. Wakefield is passionate about his alma mater. He served as president of the Alumni Association during the 2014-15 school year and is a major financial supporter of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences; the Athletics Department; the Alumni Association; and the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women.
Dr. David Barton, ’89
UTCOMLS Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2018
2017
Dr. Julian Kim, ’86
Alumni Association Gold T Award, 2017
The 2017 winner of the Gold T is Dr. Julian Kim of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Kim, a renowned expert in the treatment of patients with melanoma, breast cancer, soft tissue sarcomas and gastrointestinal malignancies, graduated from the College of Medicine and Life Sciences in 1986. Chief of oncologic surgery and chief medical officer at the Seidman Cancer Center of University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and the Charles Hubay Professor of Surgery at Case Western Reserve University, Kim holds the U.S. patent for novel research discovery in adoptive immunotherapy of cancer. His breakthrough process takes immune cells from a cancer patient and activates them in a laboratory in order to infuse them back into the patient to treat the cancer. Clinical trials in patients with advanced melanoma have proven successful, with the treatment helping to slow the advancement of the cancer. His treatment process is being used to assist pancreatic cancer patients. Prior to joining the Seidman Cancer Center in 2006, Kim served as director of the Melanoma Program at the Cleveland Clinic. Seidman Cancer Center is one of only 42 cancer hospitals nationwide.