UF College of Medicine graduates and their guests celebrated the college’s past and its future at the Oct. 19-21 Alumni Weekend celebration.
Nearly 200 alumni and their guests attended Friday’s reunion dinner, while more than 360 people attended Saturday’s Gator tailgate party. The weekend’s events also featured lectures, campus tours and a breakfast with the dean and faculty.
As the classes of 1962 and 1987 celebrated 50th and 25th reunions, respectively, and classes of every five years from 1967-2007 gathered, the highlight of the weekend came with the announcement of a $1 million gift to the college’s new Medical Education Building by Angelo Anaclerio, MD, a member of the class of 1962, and his wife, Alberta.
College of Medicine alumni from the class of 1962 pose with Albert and Alberta as they celebrate their 50-year reunion.
In honor of their gift, the new building will feature the Dr. Angelo and Alberta Anaclerio Clinical Skills Center, which will have multiple doctor’s offices and hospital rooms set up for students to learn and practice with standardized patient actors.
“Dr. Anaclerio, because of your gift, the Class of 1962 has the largest class gift in the history of the College of Medicine,” said Dean Michael L. Good, MD, at Friday’s reunion class celebration.
Following a standing ovation for Anaclerio, Good thanked him and his wife for a donation that would impact the future of the college’s students for generations to come.
“It’s just great to be back here and see the fantastic improvements since I’ve been here,” said Anaclerio. “It’s a great medical facility, and I’m proud to be associated with it.”
After earning his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and medical degree at UF, Anaclerio founded a successful ophthalmology practice in Danville, Ill., where he practiced for more than 35 years.
In 2008, Anaclerio established the Angelo Anaclerio, MD, Endowed Fund in Ophthalmology at the College of Medicine in support of the educational purposes of the department of ophthalmology.
The class of 1987 also supported the new Medical Education Building fund by joining together to donate an alumni challenge gift in honor of four deceased classmates.
(From left) Shannon Westin, MD ‘02, Jason Shinn, MD ‘02, and Jason Westin, MD ‘02, pause to look at their class photo at the class celebration dinner. Photo by Jesse S. Jones
Several college alumni and faculty members were also honored at the event.
David S. Guzick, MD, PhD, senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System, presented Distinguished Achievement awards from the UF Office of the President to William Enneking, MD, and Gerold Schiebler, MD, both longtime UF College of Medicine faculty members. Enneking is a world-renowned orthopaedics physician, while Schiebler is a pediatrician dedicated to the health care of disadvantaged children.
Danita Nias, executive director of the UF Alumni Association, gave an Honorary Alumni Award to Kenneth Berns, MD, PhD, who is retiring in December after almost a decade as director of the UF Genetics Institute.
Good presented the Dean’s Award for Humanitarian Service to Peter Katona, MD ’77. Katona, an associate clinical professor of infectious diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, is an expert in the areas of public health, epidemiology and the history of infectious disease outbreaks.
It was also a record year for UF College of Medicine class giving. Overall class giving was up more than 26 percent from last year.
