Awards

Organizational accolades and individual appointments and awards received in 2011 prove our pre-eminence in education, employment and patient care.

Organizational accolades

Richmond’s Employer of Choice
The VCU Health System was named 2011’s Greater Richmond Area Employer of Choice, marking the fourth time the health system has received the honor. The award recognizes that the health system, as the region’s largest employer with more than 8,600 employees, embodies an honored set of principles and a culture characterized by satisfied employees.

“This is a humbling honor for us,” said Sheldon M. Retchin, M.D., M.S.P.H., CEO of the VCU Health System and vice president for VCU Health Sciences, at the All Star Awards ceremony. “But really, this award acknowledges everyone in the room for their efforts to make Richmond a great place to live and work.”

The health system also received the national Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. Both awards were given at the annual presentation by the Greater Richmond Chamber, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Richmond Society of Human Resource Management.

Top company for professional women
The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) named the VCU Health System one of its 2011 Top 50 Companies and 10 Nonprofits for Executive Women, which recognizes organizations whose policies and practices encourage women’s advancement and whose numbers at the highest levels of leadership demonstrate that commitment.

This is the fifth time VCU has been named an NAFE top company, and the recognition stems from the VCU Health System’s commitment to the advancement of women through training and educational programs that result in leadership roles through efforts like its education-assistance program for employees and dependents, online GRE prep courses and professional development workshops.

“NAFE applauds the VCU Health System for once again making the list of the NAFE Top Nonprofits,” said Betty Spence, Ph.D., NAFE president. “They offer an environment where women have exceptional opportunities to succeed.”

To be considered for the NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women, companies must have a minimum of two women on their board of directors as well as at least 500 employees in the U.S.

Best company for working moms
Working Mother magazine named the VCU Health System as one of the nation’s 100 Best Companies of 2011 for working mothers, marking the seventh time the health system has been included on this prestigious roster. The magazine recognized the VCU Health System for several initiatives that met the needs of working mothers’ flexibility, reaping big rewards through increased productivity, better employee loyalty and even lower absenteeism.

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Individual appointments and awards

  • Edward F. Ansello, Ph.D., School of Allied Health Professions, received the Tibbitts Award and delivered the Tibbitts Award lecture, Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
  • Robert L. Balster, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the VCU Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, selected as a 2011-12 Jefferson Science Fellow, U.S. Department of State.
  • Gretchen M. Brophy, Pharm.D., BCPS, FCCP, FCCM, School of Pharmacy, elected to the board of directors, Neurocritical Care Society.
  • Brian Cassel, Ph.D., Massey Cancer Center, received a Fulbright Scholar Award.
  • Charles E. Chalfant, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, awarded the Avanti Young Investigator Award in Lipid Research, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Chemistry.
  • Jeffrey Delafuente, M.S., FCCP, FASCP, School of Pharmacy, elected 2011-12 vice president, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists.
  • Alan Dow, M.D., School of Medicine, named member of the first class of Macy Faculty Scholars, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.
  • Shirley Gibson, R.N., VCU Health System and School of Allied Health Professions, received the 2011 NP Advocate Award, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
  • Jean-Venable "Kelly" R. Goode, Pharm.D., BCPS, FAPhA, FCCP, School of Pharmacy, received the Daniel B. Smith Practice Excellence Award, elected as three-year trustee, American Pharmacists Association.
  • Steven Grant, M.D., Massey Cancer Center, asked to serve on the Investigational Drug Steering Committee (IDSC) and as IDSC Lymphoma Expert and Liaison to the Lymphoma Steering Committee, National Cancer Institute.
  • Spencer E. Harpe, Pharm.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., School of Pharmacy, appointed to the editorial board, Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.
  • Samuel Jones, M.D., VCU Fairfax Family Medicine Residency Program, awarded the Nikitas J. Zervanos Outstanding Program Director Award, Association of Directors of Family Medicine Residencies.
  • Kenneth Kendler, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, received the 2011 ISPG Ming Tsuang Lifetime Achievement Award, International Society of Psychiatric Genetics; awarded the Jean Delay Prize, World Psychiatric Association.
  • Debra Lyon, Ph.D., R.N., FNP-BC, FNAP, School of Nursing, inducted as 2011 Fellow, American Academy of Nursing.
  • William McKinley, M.D., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, Arnold P. Gold Foundation; named Community Partner of the Year, Spinal Cord Injury Association of Virginia.
  • Leticia Moczygemba, Pharm.D., Ph.D., School of Pharmacy, received a Best New Investigator Podium Research Presentation Award, International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.
  • John Nixon, M.D., VCU Pauley Heart Center, received the Award of Meritorious Achievement, American Heart Association.
  • John M. Pellock, M.D., Department of Neurology, named president, American Epilepsy Society.
  • John T. Povlishock, Ph.D., Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, awarded honorary degree, University of Pécs in Hungary.
  • Jo Lynne W. Robins, Ph.D., R.N., ANP-BC, AHN-C, CHTP, School of Nursing, inducted as a 2011 Fellow, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
  • Kevin Shimp, R.N., School of Nursing, named 2011 Man of the Year, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; earned a 40 under 40 Award, Virginia Nurses Foundation.
  • Joel Silverman, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, appointed to the Board of Regents, The American College of Psychiatrists.
  • Evan M. Sisson, Pharm.D., School of Pharmacy, appointed to the editorial board, Diabetes Health.
  • J. Tyler Stevens, Pharm.D., School of Pharmacy, earned Chapter Advisor the Year Award, National Phi Delta Chi Grand Council.
  • Douglas Sweet, Ph.D., School of Pharmacy, named vice chairman, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism Section, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.
  • Mary A. Turner, M.D., FACR, Department of Radiology, awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award, Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists.
  • Jurgen Venitz, M.D., Ph.D., School of Pharmacy, selected to represent the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation, 2011 Drug Information Association 47th Annual Meeting’s first Patient Advocacy Fellowship Program.
  • Laura E. Wise, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, received the Young Investigator Award, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.
  • Nancy Yunker, Pharm.D., School of Pharmacy, received the Adult Medicine PRN Mentoring Award, American Association of Clinical Pharmacy.

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