2015 Induction Ceremony, Awards Presentation and Reception
The University of Toledo - Health Science Campus
Howard L. Collier Building
April 18, 2015
7:00 – 9:30 pm
2015 Recipients:
Alfredo V. Casino, MD, FACS
The Philippines and Akron, Ohio
Dr. Alfredo Casino, a general surgeon from the Philippines, personifies one of the primary purposes of the Medical Mission Hall of Fame: to inspire qualified public health personnel to follow in the footsteps of their distinguished predecessors.
Dr. Casino was born in the Philippines in a remote village of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur of Northern Luzon, in August, 1933. The family moved to Tagum, Davao in southern Mindanao in 1950. "Poppy", as he is known by his buddies, graduated from high school in 1951, completed his pre-med training in 1953 at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines (coincidentally, an institution organized by a medical missionary group) and received his doctorate in medicine in 1958.
Poppy came stateside in 1959. He completed his internship and surgical residency at the Gundersen Clinic and the La Crosse Lutheran Hospital in Wisconsin, then moved to Ohio in 1965 for his general and pediatric surgery residency at St. Thomas Hospital and Children's Hospital in Akron. He then practiced general surgery and gastrointestinal endoscopy at Barberton Citizens Hospital in Barberton, Ohio and Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital in Wadsworth, Ohio from 1965 to 1996.
After participating in an early medical mission trip, Dr. Casino became familiar with the need for facial reconstruction of young people in his home country. He retrained in cleft lip and cleft palate reconstruction at Children's Hospital in Akron, Ohio and until 2011, returned annually to the Philippines to provide these surgeries to needy children. His 2014 mission there was his 18th year of travel to the Philippines as a reconstructive surgeon.
Dr. Casino founded the American Foundation to Aid the Poor (AFAP) in 1986 to provide
free surgeries to the poor in the Philippines. The organization now supports missionaries
and missionary groups providing surgical care to the poor in underserved countries
and provides safe drinking water in many rural communities. AFAP also trains and
supports Philippine-based surgeons so they can do post-operative follow-up and perform
multi-stage procedures that can't be done effectively on short-term mission trips.
Dr. Casino has also participated numerous times in missions with medical and surgical
groups such as Medical Ministry International (MMI), Society of Philippine Surgeons
in America (SPSA), Philippine American Medical Society of Western Pennsylvania (PAMS)
and the Bicol Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
For his significant contributions to the medical well-being of his fellow men, the Medical Mission Hall of Fame honors Dr. Casino.
Abali Chuku, MD, FWACS, FICS
Umuahia, Nigeria
Dr. Abali Chuku is a medical missionary who never really left Nigeria, his native country. Born in Nigeria in 1962, Dr. Chuku attended primary and secondary schools in London, England. Upon completing his secondary education in the UK, Dr. Chuku returned to Nigeria where he graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukku with his medical degree.
Dr. Chuku continued his medical training with a fellowship at West African College of Surgeons and postgraduate education at the Medical College of Nigeria. Following his internship, Dr. Chuku embarked on an extensive residency in ophthalmology at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu, where he served as chief resident.
After serving in various high level capacities at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Umuahia, Dr. Chuku was appointed Head of Ophthalmology in 1996, and Medical Director in 2011. As medical director, Dr. Chuku made it his goal to transform FMC into a center of excellence. His accomplishments drew the attention of the Nigerian Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, who commended Dr. Chuku and his operational management during a recent visit to the Centre for a "good job done well." The Minister went on to say "A visionary always strives to achieve the best. He is very innovative. He also works hard to be ahead in any competition." Perhaps it is these attributes that prompted Professor Chukwu to declare in an interview that he was very proud of Dr. Chuku's accomplishments, noting: "The medical director is one of our best, his staff here are cooperating with him, you know when you are doing the right thing, people will naturally follow you." He went on to say that "FMC hospital will remain a lasting testimonial to the good work of a man with a sagacious mind and penetrating vision."
Dr. Glenn Geelhoed, an early honoree of the Medical Mission Hall of Fame, stated "Dr. Chuku is an excellent role model for those who are privileged to walk in his footsteps, and he epitomizes what the Medical Mission Hall of Fame is all about. He has devoted his entire life to improving the availability of medical services to the underserved people in our world."
The Medical Mission Hall of Fame is honored to recognize the good work of Dr. Chuku, a missionary devoted to the people of Nigeria, his native land.
Paul R. Williams, MD
Pisgah Forest, North Carolina
Dr. Williams began his extensive career as a concerned and dedicated medical missionary after receiving his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He completed his internship and pediatric residency at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan and his fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at Harbor General Hospital, UCLA, Torrance, California. After his medical fellowship, he returned to William Beaumont Hospital as an associate neonatologist and later became the Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Director of Neonatal Research. For fifteen years, Dr. Williams was on the faculty of the University of South Florida as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics.
He has been involved in numerous full-time medical missions since 1984. Dr. Williams was the founding director of HealthCare Ministries of the Assemblies of God World Missions from 1984 to 1994. He was the first medical director of Operation Blessing in Virginia Beach, Virginia from 1994 to 1997 and in 1997 he founded Yeshua Medical Ministries, now named International HealthCare Network, which facilitates organizations in humanitarian outreaches and ministry. Since 2005 he has been a visiting faculty member of In His Image Family Medicine Residency programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
As a medical missionary, Dr. Williams has felt a calling to use his medical skills and compassionate ministries as a way to express his humanitarian love for his fellow man. His real-time experiences during his more than twenty-five years in medical missions in 105 nations gives him a very unique perspective on world events and human suffering.
As an enthusiastic proponent of "hands-on" medical missionary programs, Dr. Williams has organized and led medical teams in a number of major world disasters since the early 1990s. From cyclones devastating Bangladesh, to the refugee camps created by the Rwandan Civil War, to hurricane-ravaged Nicaragua and Honduras, to the tsunami devastation in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and to earthquakes around the world, he has been there. He has brought the healing gifts of a physician into the middle of the greatest man-made and natural disasters this world has ever known.
Dr. Williams serves on the board and/or is a consultant to numerous international mission agencies. In addition, he has been involved with more than 200 medical mission outreaches. These have included relief efforts in Bangladesh, Indonesia, the continent of Africa, Central America and various other countries. Hundreds of thousands of the medically deprived have been touched by the generous humanitarian care of Dr. Williams throughout the course of his selfless medical mission career.
Lawrence V. Conway Distinguished Service Award
Clinton O. Longenecker, PhD
The University of Toledo Toledo, Ohio
Dr. Longenecker began his distinguished career in teaching and business management
research when he graduated from the University of Toledo in 1977. Since that vintage
year Clint has made outstanding progress in pursuing his dream to be all that he can
be and to assist others to do likewise. Commenting on his prestigious record of outstanding
progress in business management and research, one of his colleagues said, "Clint is
a distinguished professional with a clear vision and the willingness and
ability to achieve that vision." Another observer stated that "Clint's personal operating
philosophy is to always do that which is right for the greatest good of the largest
number of his fellow men."
Dr. Longenecker is a global, award-winning business educator in the area of strategic management development. He is currently the Stranahan Professor of Leadership and Organizational Excellence in the College of Business and Innovation at the University of Toledo. Dr. Longenecker has recently been described by career publications as one of "America's very best executive educators" and "one of the top motivational speakers in the U.S. who can blend cutting-edge research, common sense, humor and conviction into a real and inspiring call for better performance that can help us all." He has been the recipient of over 50 outstanding teaching, research and service awards during his illustrious academic career.
Dr. Longenecker has received best-professor awards and numerous other national awards. Some include the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Toastermasters International Leadership Award, and the Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service. Professor Longenecker has been inducted into the Entrepreneurial and Business Excellence Hall of Fame. In addition, he was recognized by The Economist as one of the top 15 business professors in the world in 2013. He has published over 170 articles and papers in leading academic and professional journals including Sloan Management Review, European Business Review, Industrial Management, Business Horizons, and Journal of Business Ethics and Organizational Dynamics, among others. Dr. Longenecker is an active management consultant, educator and executive coach whose clients include a variety of Fortune 500 firms and entrepreneurial organizations.
Dr. Longnecker is also an active community servant, a committed member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, and an active bible study leader and Christian speaker. He has also spent extensive time working in Haiti managing missionary schools and hospital construction projects as well as disaster relief programs. Clint is married to the former Cindy Breese and has three children; Clinton Charles, Shannon Marie and Steven Lorenzo.
The Medical Mission Hall of Fame of the University of Toledo is highly honored to bestow this award on Dr. Longenecker for his distinguished service over a lifetime to the global community, his alma mater and his fellow men.