John A. Benson Jr. ’43, MD, dean emeritus at Oregon Health & Science University and professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine, received the 2010 Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education. Presented by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the award, their highest, honors Benson’s “extraordinary contributions to the board certification process, medical education, and academic medicine.” Benson, who is known as the modern “father” of the American Board of Internal Medicine, was appointed and served as its first president for 16 years. A gastroenterologist by training, he began what would become a 30-year association with the board in 1961. As an elected member of the board of governors, he helped to approve examinations in new subspecialties, such as nephrology, endocrinology, and hematology, among others. A biology and chemistry major at Wesleyan, he earned his medical degree from Harvard University.
Charlie Hill ’46 was made an Officier in the French Order of the Academic Palms at a ceremony conducted by the Cultural Attachée of the French Embassy in New York. The order was established by Napoleon as a means of recognizing accomplishments in teaching and research, and in promoting the study of French. In 1979, he had been named a Chevalier of the order. He earned his MA and PhD at Yale and taught there, as well as at the University of Rhode Island, at Skidmore College, and from 1962 until his retirement in 1992, at Brooklyn College, CUNY, where he was also department chair for 11 years. He served many years on the boards of the American Association of Teachers of French and the Société des Professeurs Français et Francophones d’Amérique. He is the author of a book on Jean-Paul Sartre, several articles on various aspects of French and Francophone literature, and many reviews and encyclopedia articles.
Russell Hoxsie ’48, M.D., received the Creative Living Award from the Permanent Endowment Fund of Martha’s Vineyard. Hoxie and his wife, Maryann, have lived on the Massachusetts island for 51 years, where he worked as a family physician and is the resident expert on Lyme disease. He recently published a local bestseller, Let’s Walk, Lilly, about his favorite places to walk on the Vineyard with his springer spaniel. Additionally, with a co-author, he has published a book of poems. As an undergraduate at Wesleyan, he pursued pre-medical studies and received his medical degree from Cornell.
Dr. Joseph J. Fins ’82, an internationally renowned medical ethicist and pioneer in the field of neuroethics and disorders of consciousness, was named the first recipient of a newly established professorship, The E. William Davis Jr. M.D., Professor of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Davis is a member of the Wesleyan Class of 1947. Fins serves as chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and is a tenured professor of medicine, professor of public health, and professor of medicine in psychiatry. He is also director of medical ethics and a physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and on the adjunct faculty of Rockefeller University. He is a co-author of the 2007 Nature paper describing the first use of deep brain stimulation in the minimally conscious state. The Davis Professorship was created in honor of Dr. E. William Davis Jr., who was instrumental in the founding of New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell’s Ethics Committee in 1994, when Dr. Fins was named as its founding chair. Dr. Davis served as professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medical College and is currently vice president for medical affairs emeritus at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Charles “Chip” Stone Jr. ’49 was named a Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen. The president of CB Stone Venture Company, engaged in securities, real estate, and business investments, he was previously president of CB Stone, Inc., a heating and air conditioning company. He has long been active in the Middletown community, serving as general manager of a United Way campaign and as co-chair of a capital campaign for Middlesex Hospital. Additionally, he was a director of the YMCA and a trustee of Wesleyan. In 1979, he received the university’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.
John A. Benson Jr. ’43, MD, dean emeritus at Oregon Health & Science University and professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine, received the 2010 Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education. Presented by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the award, their highest, honors Benson’s “extraordinary contributions to the board certification process, medical education, and academic medicine.” Benson, who is known as the modern “father” of the American Board of Internal Medicine, was appointed and served as its first president for 16 years. A gastroenterologist by training, he began what would become a 30-year association with the board in 1961. As an elected member of the board of governors, he helped to approve examinations in new subspecialties, such as nephrology, endocrinology, and hematology, among others. A biology and chemistry major at Wesleyan, he earned his medical degree from Harvard University.
