Sloan Alumni Achievement Award
The Sloan Alumni Achievement Award, established in 2014 by the Sloan Alumni Association, recognize Sloan alumni who, through their endeavors in healthcare administration, demonstrates the relevance and significance of the education they received in the Sloan Program at Cornell University.
As leaders they have branched out in many directions to use their knowledge and skills to change the world. It has long been recognized that graduates of the Sloan Program in Health Administration have made significant contributions to their industry, they have been advocates for change, and have had substantial impact in their work place and their community, and generously supported the Sloan Program and its students.
The award is presented annually. Nominations are accepted each fall.
Sloan Alumni Recent Alumni Achievement Award
The Sloan Alumni Association Recent Alumni Achievement Award, established in 2018, is given to a Sloan alumnus or alumna who has graduated within the past fifteen years in recognition of a commitment to excellence in post-collegiate life and a significant or ongoing commitment to extraordinary work, research or volunteerism.
This award highlights the tremendous talents and contributions that young people make to their profession, to their community, and to the Sloan program. Recipients are those which richly inspire other young alumni and current students of the program. This award will be presented to deserving alumni who meet the following criteria:
- Nominee must have attained notable degree of prominence through professional endeavor, research, volunteerism, and/or involvement within the local or global community or the College.
- Special consideration will be given for those who demonstrate significant initiative by starting innovative service projects, research, businesses or other original enterprises.
- Received recognition as an emerging leader through professional and/or community achievements.
- Attained increasingly responsible positions within their organization, business, or field of work.
- Received recognition for significant professional contributions, discoveries, or creative work through honors, awards, and/or media attention.
- Served as an outstanding young role model for current and future SLOAN students.
- Connected to the program in terms of support for students through colloquia, advising, recruitment or giving
One recipient is selected annually. This award may be bestowed at the discretion of the SAA Awards Committee.
Sloan Alumni Achievement Award past recipients
Brooke Hollis MBA/HHSA, MArch & UD is a 1978 Sloan graduate and has been a dedicated volunteer working for decades to contribute to the program. He served for over 15 years on the Sloan Alumni Association (SAA) board and served as president. During his tenure he helped to recruit Will White as Sloan director. He then worked closely with Will and with his successor Sean Nicholson to lend support to re-energizing of the program and assisted with its rise in the rankings from 29th to the top 10.
Clifford, a 1974 graduate of the Sloan Program, is a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice in the firm’s Washington, D.C. and New York offices.He serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Health Plan Compliance Group. An accomplished and respected attorney, Cliff has been employed by the firm for over 35 years and represents providers, including hospitals, nursing homes, home health, hospice, ancillary service companies and managed care companies, concentrating in Medicare and Medicaid. He is the Co-Founder of Medicaid Health Plans of America, Inc., and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Accountable Care Organization Task Force of the American Health Lawyers Association.
Daniel M. Grauman, MBA, CPA/ABV, is a 1984 Sloan graduate with 40 years of experience working with health systems across the US where his success has been based on having an impact and making a difference in the lives of others. He is Managing Director and CEO of Veralon healthcare consultants. He is also the co-founder of two affiliates, iProtean, an online board education portal, and Quanto, a web-based financial management tool for value-based payment.
During his career of 40 years, Jay Yedvab served as an administrator in health care facilities and hospitals across the United States and Canada. This includes roles as CEO of Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco and Bergen Pine County Hospital in New Jersey, and the position of Administrator of the Baycrest Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. Yedvab continues to be actively involved in the support of the Sloan Program, its students, alumni, and on-going academic mission – manifesting in a variety of impactful ways.
Sandy Williams has been a partner in the recruiting firm of Witt Kieffer for the last 27 years. During his time at Witt Kieffer, he specialized in academic medicine, association and international searches to help institutions and organizations find the best health talent to help both individuals and populations. Throughout his multidisciplinary career, he came to understand that the key to success was learning to work with doctors and to appreciate the
medical education process – with all its warts.
Nancy M. Schlichting, MBA ’79, is retired Chief Executive Officer of Henry Ford Health System (HFHS), a nationally recognized $5.7 billion health care organization with 27,000 employees, and recipient of the 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, 2011 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety Quality Award, and 2004 Foster G. McGaw Award. She is credited with leading the health system through a dramatic financial turnaround and for award-winning patient safety, customer service and diversity initiatives.
Michael W. Azzara is a senior consultant with Foley Proctor Yoskowitz, a health care consulting firm specializing in executive search, physician recruitment and management consulting for the health care industry. Since joining Foley Proctor in October 2003, Yoskowitz has focused on executive and physician search, hospital governance assessment, leadership development and succession planning.
Azzara is past president of the Sloan Alumni Association and has been an active and integral volunteer with the program since his graduation. Over the years, he has been a mentor and advisor for numerous prospective and current students as well as alumni. A strong advocate for the program, Mike played an active role in helping to seek summer internships and job placements for graduating students in addition to promoting philanthropic support of Sloan.
Richard Southby has committed his life to public health through his career, education and community involvement. In his native Australia, he had originally planned to go into hospital administration. His career path changed course while at Sloan. He saw his future in the emerging field of health policy and developed a passion for putting more emphasis on public health where he saw growing opportunities.
Southby went on to become one of the founders of the School of Public Health and Health Services at the George Washington University. He’s had an impact on the field across the globe and is passionate about reforming the U.S. health care system to focus more on public health. His leadership, initiatives and contributions have had a lasting impact on the health care industry, and his involvement as a graduate of Sloan has greatly benefited the program, its students and faculty.
Bernie Kershner sets the standard for this award. He has demonstrated outstanding success and distinction during his career. His significant accomplishments and achievements have contributed greatly in many areas of the health care industry. Kershner is recognized for his leadership, innovation and lasting contributions that have impacted individuals and organizations, and, most important, the Sloan Program, its students, faculty and alumni.
Sloan Alumni Recent Alumni Achievement Award past recipients
Liebe Meier Swain is an experienced leader focused on developing innovative and evidence-based solutions to advance business objectives and customer expectations. She has significant experience leading in highly regulated environments, assessing community/customer needs, directing strategic and operational objectives, and creating effective systems to mitigate risk. Liebe has passion for building teams and programs to drive performance and transformation.
Arnaub, a 2007 graduate of Sloan, 2008 graduate of the Cornell Institute of Public Affairs, and now an expert in healthcare technology, is advancing the development, go-to-market, and delivery of capabilities that help his company’s life science clients accelerate their innovation. He is Senior Vice President of Product and Ecosystem at Acorn AI, a Medidata Solutions company where he is driving their efforts as a global provider of cloud-based and analytic solutions.
Dr. Shravan Subramanyam has over 15 years of corporate and healthcare experience, and at the time of receiving this award, the Managing Director, India and Neighboring Markets at Roche – the world’s largest biotech company, the global leader in cancer drugs, and a pioneer in personalized healthcare. A physician described to have a passion for diagnostics, he is a committed advocate in promoting ‘personalized healthcare’ and the use of technology in medicine.