Awards & More

Robert Arnold, a professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and director of the UPMC Palliative and Supportive Institute, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, a professional organization for physicians who care for patients with serious illness. Arnold’s research focuses on educational interventions to improve communication between doctors and patients when patients face life-threatening illnesses. He is widely published on end-of-life, hospice, and palliative care issues. 

Pitt School of Law Dean William M. Carter Jr. has been named a 2013 Diverse Attorney of the Year by The Legal Intelligencer, the nation’s oldest law journal. Every two years, The Legal Intelligencer solicits nominations from across the legal profession of Pennsylvania’s outstanding attorneys from underrepresented groups who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievements. Among those who will be honored at a May 22 luncheon in Philadelphia are judges, a member of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, and Carter, who is widely respected for his scholarship in constitutional law, international human rights law, and issues of social justice.

Nine sports-medicine specialists with ties to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC were named on a list of the top 19 sports-medicine specialists in America. The medical publication Orthopedics This Week surveyed what it termed the field’s “thought leaders” to create the list. Three of those named are practicing and teaching leaders in Pitt’s medical school and UPMC Center for Sports Medicine: Freddie Fu, chair and David Silver Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Pitt School of Medicine; Christopher Harner, Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Pitt School of Medicine, and director of the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine; and James Bradley, chief orthopedic surgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a clinical professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Pitt School of Medicine. The remaining six sports-medicine specialists with ties to Pitt and UPMC who were named on the list had been trained as fellows, residents, or had received a medical degree from Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership has been honored by the Institute of International Education. The program received an honorable mention in the study-abroad category of the institute’s Andrew Heiskell Awards for Innovation in International Education. The Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership, established in 2007, combines a study-abroad experience, leadership-development retreats, and community-service activities. Three women each from 15 institutions across Pennsylvania are admitted annually into the program, which is supported by the Heinz Endowments and administered by Pitt’s University Center for International Studies and Office of Study Abroad. The program targets a diverse mix of sophomore and junior women who haven’t yet traveled abroad and gives preference to women from underrepresented groups and those with financial need. The Pitt program’s honorable mention was awarded March 22 during the Institute of International Education’s Best Practices conference in New York City. 

Photo: Pitt's Lawrence Feick (left) received the award on behalf of the University's Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership during a March 22 ceremony in New York. He stands with Allan E. Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education. Feick is senior director of international programs at Pitt as well as director of the University Center for International Studies.