Welcome to the Night of Distinction and Distinguished Award Ceremony

Recipient: President Satish Tripathi

The George and Kelly Ellis Medal honors Kelly and George Ellis, MD ’45, whose extraordinary generosity has shaped the future of the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. As the largest individual donors in the school’s history, the Ellises exemplify transformational impact — the very standard this medal represents.

The Ellis Medal is reserved for rare individuals whose vision and leadership have fundamentally advanced the school’s mission and elevated its standing. There is no more fitting inaugural recipient than President Satish Tripathi.

President Tripathi’s leadership and vision to relocate the medical school to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus transformed the trajectory of the Jacobs School, strengthening its academic and community profile locally, nationally, and internationally. This move positioned UB at the heart of Buffalo’s health innovation corridor and deepened its commitment to the community it serves.

By presenting the inaugural Ellis Medal to President Tripathi, we establish an aspirational benchmark for future honorees whose contributions will continue to shape the Jacobs School for generations to come.

Recipient: Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes

The Community Health Care Advocacy Award honors leaders who champion equitable access to care and strengthen the health of Buffalo’s neighborhoods. This year, we proudly recognize Assemblymember Crystal Peoples-Stokes for her dedication to improving health outcomes across the city of Buffalo.

Through her leadership in state government and the community, Assemblymember Peoples-Stokes has secured state funding to support health care organizations serving Buffalo’s East and West sides — the very communities that the Buffalo Primary Care Initiative aims to serve.

Her advocacy for a recent grant to ECMC to establish a new primary care center on its campus will be transformative in addressing the health care desert on Buffalo’s East Side. As a key partner of the Jacobs School of Medicine, ECMC’s new facility will provide critical educational and training opportunities for students and residents, ensuring future physicians are prepared to serve where they are needed most.

• Renier J. Brentjens, MD ’96, PhD 
  Deputy Director and Chair of Medicine 
  Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
• David S. Kountz, MD ’85, MBA 
  Chief Academic Officer 
  Hackensack Meridian Health
• Elinor R. Schoenfeld, PhD ’88 
  Research Professor and Vice Chair of Research 
  Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

• John J. Bodkin, II, MD ’76
• Michael O’Mara
• Edward Rutkowski