The Jon B. Syren Award

Background

Jon Benedict Syren expected to graduate from the University of Washington School of Medicine in the Class of 1993. He began his medical training in Anchorage, Alaska, in the fall of 1989 as a member of the first class of WWAMI students enrolled in the Biomedical Program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. While at Seattle during his third year of medical school, Jon developed a cancer that took his life ten months later in Anchorage on August 3, 1992. He left a wife and two children.

Jon, the youngest of eight children, was born in Anchorage on July 16, 1965, where he attended Abbott Loop School and Service High School. After earning a bachelor's degree at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, he finished his premedical education at the University of Alaska Anchorage. During his medical training, Jon distinguished himself by earning honors in several categories of studies, both in Anchorage and Seattle. He is also remembered by those who knew him for his strong commitment to his family and his faith, and for his unflagging courage and equanimity in the face of personal adversity.

Jon Syren

Purpose

The Jon B. Syren Award recognizes a first-year medical student in the University of Alaska Anchorage WWAMI School of Medical Education who has demonstrated personal qualities of character, integrity, and compassion, combined with a commitment to and promise of community service in medicine. The student must also be in good academic standing.

The Award

The award shall consist of an engraved plaque and gift certificate to be presented to the recipient at Anchorage in an appropriate ceremony near the end of the second semester of the academic year.

Eligibility and Selection Process

All Foundations medical students in the UAA WWAMI School of Medical Education shall be eligible. Nominations for the award are submitted to the Director of the WWAMI Program. Nominations may be made by individual members of the current class or by UAA WWAMI Program faculty or staff. The Director of the WWAMI Program shall select two faculty members from the Foundations of Clinical Medicine and the three shall review the nominations and in consultation determine the recipient of the award. If no suitable candidates are nominated, the award will not be presented that year.

Recipients of the Jon B. Syren Award

Award Year Award Recipient Award Year Award Recipient
2021   2020 Zane Davis
2019  Bartholomew Grabman 2018 Michael Jurasek
2017 Amelia Harrison 2016 Parker Quimby
2015 Kelli Hicks 2014 Thomas Steck
2013 Carla Cartagena De Jesus 2012 Michael Petrovich
2011 Minhe Kim 2011 Michael Nasenbeny
2010 Linnea Pudwill 2009 Paul Gloe
2008 Amanda Beery 2007 Katrina Groundwater
2006 Sarah Murphy 2005 Julianna Shields
2003  Mary Nettlow 2004 Kristen Iagulli
2002 Allison Kelliher 2001 Meghan McKeever
2000 Robert Lawrence 1999 Nora Ivanoff
1998 Ian Carroll 1997 Arthur Cho
1996 Max Rabinowitz 1995 Deanna Johnson
1994 Richard Davis 1993 B.J. Aldrich