Loma Linda University Preprofessional Advisors Workshop held at LLU BALL names alumni of the year for 1999 Over 300 alumni, friends attend 16th annual BALL banquet Annual BALL banquet held in Los Angeles Office of diversity holds awareness celebration Preprofessional Advisors Workshop held at LLU Advisors from Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities were on the Loma Linda campus recently to attend the Preprofessional Advisors Workshop. This workshop is held every other year to provide preprofessional advisors in LLU's sister institutions with the latest information on the many health professions. The advisors first met with representatives from the Graduate School to learn of new programs, accreditation issues, job market trends, and academic requirements for the various programs offered by the School. The group also met with faculty from School of Allied Health Professions to be updated on current issues in the allied health professions. They were given information about clinical rotations for the students, requirements for admissions, the job market for the various programs, and new programs to be offered, including the physician's assistant program which will begin in September, 2000. During the workshop, attendees met with faculty from the School of Public Health and were updated with academic information on programs such as health administration, environmental health, epidemiology, nutrition, and the new bachelor's in public health programs. The final events of the workshop included presentations made by School of Medicine and School of Dentistry faculty and students now in medicine and dentistry. The advisors were given information on how to help students as they plan their pre-medical and pre- dental programs during their undergraduate experience in their respective colleges. The workshop concluded with closing remarks by LLU president B. Lyn Behrens, MBBS, thanking the advisors for their dedication as they work with students who will later become a part of Loma Linda's student body. Advisors from Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities recently attended the Preprofessional Advisors Workshop on the LLU campus. During the workshop, they learned about the programs offered by LLU, and how best to advise students planning to apply to the institution. Here they are shown meeting with Gerald R. Winslow, PhD, dean, Faculty of Religion. BALL names alumni of the year for 1999 Two Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities (BALL) were named alumni of the year at the annual BALL banquet held February 27 in Los Angeles. Named Loma Linda BALL alumus of the year was John Richard Ford, MD, and named La Sierra BALL alumnus of the year was Dexter W. Shurney, MD. Born in Hinsdale, Illinois, September 22, 1923, Dr. Ford attended Broadview Academy in La Grange, Illinois. Subsequently, he attended Oakwood College from 1939 to 1940; and Emmanuel Missionary College (Andrews University), receiving his BA degree in 1943. In 1947, he graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine, followed by an internship at Los Angeles County General Hospital from 1947 to 1948. He completed a residency in general surgery at Freedmen's Hospital, Washington, D.C.; Howard University, Washington, D.C.; and Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, with additional training in thoracic surgery at Freedmen's Hospital, and general and gynecologic surgery at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Ford became a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery in 1954. He served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves over a span of several years. He also received an MBA degree from National University, San Diego, California, in 1991. He has been an assistant clinical professor of surgery at University of California, San Diego, since 1954, and has had teaching appointments in business administration at National University and La Sierra University. He has also served in the mission field at Siagon Adventist Hospital in Vietnam and Kendu Bay Adventist Hospital in Kenya, East Africa. Dr. Ford's professional career includes private practice in general surgery from 1943 to 1987 in San Diego, California; medi cal consulant, Department of Health Services, State of California, Medi-Cal, 1987 to 1996; and medical consultant, division of disability and adult programs, Department of Social Services, State of California, from 1996 to present. Dr. Ford holds membership in the American College of Surgeons, International College of Surgeons, and American Society of Abdominal Surgery. He is married to Ida Whitfield Ford, PhD. Together they are making significant contributions to Loma Linda University as members of the Loma Linda University Councilors, and she is a faithful member of the student affairs subcommittee of the Loma Linda University Board of Trustees. Dr. Ford has served on numerous boards in the past including at Oakwood College, Andrews University, La Sierra University, and Loma Linda University. Dr. Ford also served as a member of the California State Board of Education from 1969 to 1977, including serving as vice president, 1972 to 1974, and president, 1975 to 1976. The Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities honored John Richard Ford, MD, as its 1999 Alumnus of the Year for Loma Linda University. La Sierra University BALL alumnus of the year Dexter W. Shurney, MD, is vice president of medical affairs and corporate medical director for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan. Within this responsibility, he oversees the development and direction of the corporation's health agenda. Previously, Dr. Shurney was senior associate medical director and also medical administrator for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Planning and Development Services Division. Dr. Shurney also served as medical director for Blue Care Network, Southeast, and was physician director for case management for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan. Before joining Blue Cross and Blue Shield in 1987, Dr. Shurney was a member of the surgical staff for the Westland Medical Center in Westland, Michigan. Dr. Shurney has a bachelor of science degree in biology from La Sierra University and a master's degree in business administration and finance from Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, New York. He earned a doctor of medicine degree from Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C., and performed his clinical residency in general surgery at Wayne State University College of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan. He holds board certification from the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review. Dr. Shurney is one of two Americans elected to the medical affairs panel of the International Federation of Health Care Funds. He also serves on the boards of directors of the Michigan SIDS Alliance and the American College of Medical Quality, for which he chairs the government relations committee. He is a member of the state advisory committee of the Center for Community Collaboration in Public Health Research, and is cochair of Kids Immunization Initiative of Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Additionally, he is chair of the corporate advisory committee of the Michigan AIDS Fund, and is a member of the Michigan Public Health Institute's Committee for Community Prevention Services and Managed Care. Dr. Shurney is also a member of the Child Health Safety Initiative Project for the National Health Initiative. He is an appointed member of the governor's "Partnership for a Drug-Free Michigan," a board member of the Michigan Environmental Council, and a member of the Detroit Medical Society. Dr. Shurney is a member of the Wayne County Medical Society and serves on its editorial board. He is chair of the editorial board of the Journal of Managed Care Medicine. John Richard Ford, MD Dexter W. Shurney, MD Over 300 alumni, friends attend 16th annual BALL banquet The Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities (BALL) sponsored their Sixteenth Annual Scholarship Banquet Saturday, February 27, at the Los Angeles Marriott Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. More than 300 alumni and friends of Loma Linda University (LLU) and La Sierra University (LSU) came together for the evening. The featured speaker for the event, Michael Eric Dyson, PhD, visiting distinguished professor of African-American studies at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, New York, challenged the group from the historic perspective of inequality in American life, and also unveiled the contemporary more sophisticated, yet real, barriers confronting many minorities. Dr. Dyson's charge to BALL and its supporters is to be even more aggressive with the financial and mentoring support necessary to enable minority young people to reach their educational goals into the next millennium. Named the 1999 alumnus of the Year were John Richard Ford, MD, medical consultant for the division of disability and adult programs at the Department of Social Services for the State of California; and Dexter W. Shurney, MD, vice president of medical affairs and corporate medical director for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan (see cover for more on Dr. Ford and Dr. Shurney). Special recognition was given to three individuals during the evening--Frank F. Dupper, immediate past president, Adventist Health; J. David Moorhead, MD, immediate past president and CEO, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and executive director of medical and clinical operations, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Garland Dulan, PhD, immediate past chair, department of anthropology and sociology, LSU, and associate director of education, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. They were presented with crystal awards and certificates that read: The Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities honors Frank F. Dupper, immediate past president, Adventist Health, for his generous financial support of BALL, which has helped to expand our influence and to forward our mission--the pursuit of diversity, academic excellence, and spiritual wholeness. The Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities honors J. David Moorhead, MD, immediate past president and CEO, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and executive director of medical and clinical operations, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, for bonding his advocacy of inclusive educational opportunity with generous and consistent support of BALL, thereby strengthening our organizational efforts to enhance the educational experience and to improve the competitive position of today's students--tomorrow's professionals. Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities honors Garland Dulan, PhD, immediate past chair, department of anthropology and sociology, La Sierra University, and associate director of education General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Student advocate and partner with this organization in its efforts to insure an educational experience for today's students--tomorrow's professionals--characterized by inclusion and academic excellence in a Christian, higher-education environment. Scholarships ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 were awarded to six students that evening. LSU awardees included Karen Odessa Brown, communications; Laura Pierre-Louis, art; and Angela Maria Judy Strut, biology/pre-medicine. LLU awardees included Shakira Durham, Graduate School; David Cadogan, School of Medicine; and Idamae Rolle, School of Public Health. BALL was formed in 1980 as a support system for minority students. Gaines R. Partridge, EdD, along with other interested alumni, formed the organization to address the needs of Black Students at Loma Linda University. The mission of the Black Alumni of Loma Linda University is to be instrumental in promoting and facilitating Christian professional health science education of Black young men and women at Loma Linda University and La Sierra University. About the speaker In just a few years, author, professor, public intellectual, and ordained Baptist minister Michael Eric Dyson, PhD, has risen to a position of extraordinary prominence and visibility. Hailed for both his intellectual acuity and his great rhetorical gifts, he has been called "one of the youngest stars in the firmament of Black intellectuals" and lauded as "one of the most important voices of his generation." He's been described as a "hip-hop intellectual" and "a street fighter in suit and tie" who effortlessly fuses "academic speak with urban hip-isms." His books have gained wide critical and public acclaim from scholars and journalists alike. Dr. Dyson's 1993 debut, Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism, won the Gustavus Myers Center for Human Rights Award in 1994. His critically acclaimed follow-up, 1994's Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X, was hailed as "a study that is as substantive and comprehensive as ‘public' criticism of such a figure can hope to be," and was named a Notable Book of 1994 by both the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Dr. Dyson's third book, Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture, was named a Best Bet in USA Today, which said his writing "possesses an enviable energy and an ability to mesh influences that include everything from Shakespeare to Public Enemy." His latest book, the national bestseller Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line, has been praised as "an important document for the end of the century." He has written for scores of publications, including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, VIBE magazine, and Rolling Stone. He won the 1992 Award of Excellence for Magazines from the National Association of Black Journalists. He's been profiled in Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, the New Yorker, Essence, The Village Voice, and Chronicle of Higher Education. His commentary on American culture has landed him on "Nightline," "The Charlie Rose Show," "Good Morning America," "The Today Show," "Oprah," BET, and NPR. This year, Dr. Dyson will have two books published: What Have We Come To: Bridging the Generation Gap, and Speaking of Race (Vol. I): Critical Theories. He is currently visiting distinguished professor of African-American Studies at Columbia University. Office of diversity holds awareness celebration On February 20, the office of diversity conducted the Diversity Awareness Celebration at the Kansas Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church, Riverside. Sabbath School was conducted by the Black Health Professionals Student Association (BHPSA) and special music was provided by the 30-voice LLU student choir Testimony. Leslie N. Pollard, DMin (pictured above), special assistant to the president for diversity, presented "Let's Have Church." "This program is a new initiative from the office of diversity designed to expose local communities of faith to the rich tapestry of human diversity housed at LLU," says Dr. Pollard. "These celebrations afford a time for conscious reflection on our shared lives and what it takes to build community. They also highlight our students in service to the mission of LLU. For instance, our BHPSA students have voluntarily chosen to raise money for window screens at Kendu Adventist Hospital in Kendu Bay, Kenya, East Africa. With a goal of $2,000, to date BHPSA students have raised more than $1,500. " If your church, synagogue, mosque, or temple wishes to schedule a Diversity Awareness Celebration, contact the office of diversity at (909) 558-4787. [News and media page] University | Medical_Center | LLU&MC_home | Search_&_index | News_&_events | Employment | Contact | Our_mission All contents copyright © 2001 Loma Linda University. All rights reserved. Revised Tuesday, January 30, 2001 11:09 AM Send comments and questions to webmaster@univ.llu.edu URL: /