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Loma Linda University Honorees 2011

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Biographies are adapted from the “Loma Linda University Conferring of Degrees” program.

Jeffrey D. Cao ’71—Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Jeffrey D. Cao was born in San Francisco, California, in 1944 but lived most of his childhood in the San Fernando Valley until 1960, when his family relocated to La Sierra. Following graduation from Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Dr. Cao completed a one-year internal medicine residency and a three-year pathology residency at Kettering Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio. In 1975, he returned to Loma Linda University Medical Center as chief resident to complete his final year of pathology and a subsequent hematopathology fellowship. In 1980, he was certified in anatomic and clinical pathology and in the subspecialty of hematopathology.

In 1977, Dr. Cao was appointed director of the hematopathology service at Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Hospital in Loma Linda, California—where he played an integral role in preparing the clinical laboratory for the facility’s grand opening. In 1987, he transferred to the Department of Pathology at Loma Linda University Medical Center and assumed responsibility for the hematopathology service, as well as for the School of Medicine’s pathology reaching program. He currently serves as full-time director of the pathology course in the School of Medicine; and as medical director of the laboratories for Loma Linda Heart & Surgical Hospital, Highland Springs clinics, and Loma Linda University Medical Center’s clinical laboratory—microbiology section.

At the national level, Dr. Cao has been actively involved in educational associations for the teaching of pathology, including serving as chair for the Medical School Course Directors Section of the Association of Pathology Chairs; and as president of the Group for Research in Pathology Education. From 1997 to 2000, he was an item writer and editor for the pathology section of the National Board of Medical Examiners. He currently serves on the continuing medical education committees for the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Dr. Cao has received numerous awards presented by Loma Linda University and by the Alumni Association of the School of Medicine.

Looking back over his professional career and more than forty years of happiness with his first and latest love, Dieta, Dr. Cao is thankful every day for the opportunity to be a part of God’s plan as he serves Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

In recognition of his more than thirty years of contributions as educator, mentor, clinician, and supporter of students, the School of Medicine is pleased to name Dr. Jeffrey D. Cao a recipient of the SCHOOL DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD. Presentation of this award took place at the Conferring of Degrees for the School of Medicine.

G. Gordon Hadley ’44-B—Lifetime Service Award

During the more than six decades since Dr. G. Gordon Hadley completed his medical education, he has lived his life with a sense of mission reflected in service. His contributions to Loma Linda University have been rivaled only by the rich variety of his global service to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Dr. Hadley was introduced to service perspectives early in his childhood. Growing up in Washington, D.C., he observed this value modeled not only by his parents in their home, but also in his physician father’s selfless ministry to society’s underprivileged; and what he saw made a profound, lifelong impression. More than anything, he wanted to become a physician.

Dr. Hadley’s graduation from the College of Medical Evangelists (CME, renamed Loma Linda University in 1961) as a member of the class of 1944-B was preceded by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, modification of the medical school curriculum to ensure early completion of his class, and an abbreviated internship. He subsequently was drafted and assigned to the 138th Evacuation Hospital, which served the 15th Army in Europe. Following his discharge from the military in 1946, he completed a three-year residency in pathology at CME (one of the first four physicians to enroll in this residency), then moved to the “city division”—as the Los Angeles campus of CME was then known—to join the medical school teaching staff.

From 1949 until Loma Linda University (LLU) consolidated its two campuses in 1962, Dr. Hadley taught not only at CME/LLU; but also on church mission assignments at medical colleges in Vellore, India (1955-1958), and on multiple occasions in Kabul and Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

For nearly ten years beginning in 1977, Dr. Hadley served as dean of LLU School of Medicine. In 1986, he accepted an invitation to become director of the General Conference Health and Temperance Department, where he served until 1991. Upon his return to the medical faculty at LLU, Dr. Hadley fulfilled a request made in 1990 by Dr. B. Lyn Behrens, then dean of the School of Medicine, that he serve as a mentor for the class of 1994. In his role as student physician, he reported his experiences to the Curriculum Committee.

In 1994, Dr. Hadley responded affirmatively to a request that he assume leadership of a new medical facility in Hangzhou, China—Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH). Shortly after its opening, he became chief executive officer—a position he held until 2001. Thanks in large part to the pioneering role he played, SRRSH today enjoys a reputation as one of the premier hospitals in Asia. In 2001, when the decision was made that Kabul Medical Institute would rebuild its curriculum—which, like the country, had been devastated by the ravages of two decades of war—school officials turned once more to Dr. Hadley, who for forty years had helped anchor the global outreach of Loma Linda University in this region. In response to yet another opportunity to serve, Dr. Hadley prepared to relocate with his wife, Alphie (Alice Ruth Wagner Hadley), to Kabul no later than early autumn. Although these plans were delayed after the events of September 11, Dr. Hadley did return for some months and continues to exert an influence on the region through his legacy of former students who now hold positions of influence in the government and in NGOs and other health-related endeavors.

Still discovering new ways to serve Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Dr. Hadley mentors pathology students. In addition, he created DVDs of photographs he had taken of students’ museum specimens, an invaluable asset to the study of pathology.

In recognition of his contributions not only to this academic and health care community, but also to the broader community of the world church, Dr. G. Gordon Hadley received the Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center (LLUAHSC) LIFETIME SERVICE AWARD at the Conferring of Degrees for the School of Medicine.

J. Lamont Murdoch ’63—Distinguished Service Award

Dr. J. Lamont Murdoch was born in Watford, England, while his father was on staff at Newbold College. At eight years of age, he relocated with his family to Avondale College in Cooranbong, NSW, Australia. During his teen years, the family relocated once more to the United States.

After graduating from Loma Linda University School of Medicine and completing a one-year rotating internship at White Memorial Hospital, Dr. Murdoch was invited by Dr. Varner Johns, then chief of internal medicine at Loma Linda University Medical Center, to become one of the first two residents in the new internal medicine residency program. In 1967, he became the first chief resident in internal medicine at the new medical center. His residency and a one-year fellowship in endocrinology were followed by an eighteen-month fellowship in genetic diseases at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Murdoch returned to Loma Linda University in 1969 to join the faculty of the School of Medicine-Endocrinology Section, where he has served as chief since 1977—concurrently serving during this period as director of endocrinology at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. In 1996, he was appointed supervisor of the Endocrinology Clinic at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley.

Although Dr. Murdoch has been extensively involved in research and patient care, his true passion is medical student education. From 1974-1977, he coordinated the junior student internal medicine clerkship; he coordinated the senior student internal medicine clerkship from 1975 to 1995. He has also coordinated the endocrinology teaching program at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona and the biomedical teaching program at University of California, Riverside.

Following the untimely death of his wife, Judy, in 1981, Dr. Murdoch married Rebecca Eller, a member of Loma Linda University School of Nursing’s faculty. They enjoy spending time with their five children and four grandchildren.

In recognition of more than four decades of service as teacher, clinician trailblazer, and mentor in his profession, the School of Medicine is pleased to name Dr. J. Lamont Murdoch a recipient of the SCHOOL DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD. This award was presented at the Conferring of Degrees for the School of Medicine.

Findlay E. Russell ’51—University Alumnus of the Year

While still a high school student, Dr. Findlay E. Russell developed an interest in venomous and poisonous animals. As a result of a paper he wrote on the subject, he was invited to attend a summer honors session at California Institute of Technology (Caltech)—a great place for a summer experience, he concluded, but beyond his reach academically.

After completing his undergraduate education and working for a short time as a chemical engineer, Dr. Russell was drafted into the U.S. Army. Upon discharge from the military in 1946 as a result of a hand injury, he enrolled in medical school at the University of Southern California. His decision to continue studies at the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University), where the injuries to his hands could be repaired, culminated in his graduation as a member of the class of 1951. His internship at Los Angeles County General Hospital included an opportunity to work with Cyril B. Courville ’25, a well-known neurologist whose research focus was traumatic injuries to the skull.

With his own interest in research now whetted, Dr. Russell decided that rather than take a residency in clinical medicine, he preferred an area that would provide research experience and possibly some time to pursue his interest in venomous animals. The offer of an honors fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Antonie Van Harreveld at Caltech met both these requirements. Two years later, he became chief physiologist at the Huntington Institute of Medical Research (now Huntington Medical Research Institutes).

In 1955, Dr. Russell was invited by Los Angeles County General Hospital to build a neurological research laboratory for the facility. His work on this project established his association with Loma Linda University that continued until the University’s connection with the hospital ended in 1966. Prior to his first retirement, he served as director of the Laboratory of Neurological Research and Venom Poisoning Center at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and as professor in the Departments of Neurology, Biology, and Physiology at the University of Southern California. Postretirement, Dr. Russell served as a regular consultant to government agencies worldwide. In 1981, he resumed his teaching and research career as a faculty member in the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, where he continued to enhance his reputation as a world-renowned scientist and researcher until his second retirement.

During more than six decades committed to blending compassionate skill as a physician with impeccable competence as a scientist, Dr. Russell has touched countless lives around the world. He authored hundreds of publications on rattlesnake bites and venom biochemistry, including the widely acclaimed book, Snake Venom Poisoning. In addition, he holds patents on four technical medical procedures; is credited with the development of three fractions of venoms now used in medicine; is codeveloper of a snake antivenom; and has had a scorpion and a spider—vejovis russelli and loxosceles russelli, respectively—named after him.

For a lifetime dedicated to the betterment of humankind and for his exemplification of the University’s motto, “To make man whole,” Loma Linda University was pleased to name Dr. Findlay E. Russell UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR and to confer on him this title at the Conferring of Degrees for the School of Medicine.
 

Donald and Mildred A.R. Stilson ’46—Distinguished Humanitarian Award

Donald and Mildred Stilson—members of the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University) class of 1946—were both self-described “missionary kids” whose parents served in Panama and India, respectively; and both wanted to serve overseas as medical missionaries after earning their medical degrees.

After both completed a year of postinternship graduate education in surgery and obstetrics/gynecology, the Stilsons moved to London, took a course in tropical medicine at London University, and wrote required examinations to obtain British qualifications for practice in East Africa. The couple spent a year in overseas practice at Kendu Mission Hospital in Kenya, where they worked with Donald H. Abbott who was building what was then called Ankole Mission Hospital (now Ishaka Hospital)—an 80-bed facility in Uganda, East Africa, that officially opened in 1950.

With their children, Enid and Eric, the Stilsons then lived and worked at the Ishaka Hospital until late 1961—sharing their labors with various European, American, Australian, and Jamaican nurses and African hospital aides; as well as on-the-spot-trained helpers acquired from among the indigenous inhabitants of the area.

In July of 1961, the Stilsons returned to the United States permanently. Donald and Mildred completed their residencies in anesthesiology and pathology, respectively, at Loma Linda University Medical Center. They later served on the University’s faculty—Donald with his special expertise in regional anesthesia, inspired by his experience in Africa; and Mildred in anatomic pathology practice which she unselfishly shared in her classes and with medical residents under her guidance.

As members of the Loma Linda University Church, the Stilsons gained spiritual strength through their involvement as church choir members and Donald’s service as deacon. Their love for and commitment to God’s Word was nurtured in the weekly special Sabbath School study sessions—first with Dr. Jack Provonsha and later with Dr. Bernard Taylor. The couple enjoyed fine music and photography (particularly of wild flowers) and were avid readers.

The last three years of Donald’s life were marked by an increasing struggle against lymphoma and heart failure. He was able to celebrate his 92nd birthday with close family members before peacefully passing away at his home in Loma Linda on April 13, 2010.

In addition to their service to this academic and health care community, Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center (LLUAHSC) is pleased to recognize the generous philanthropy of Drs. Donald and Mildred Stilson. In acknowledgement of their personal modeling of stewardship excellence and their support of priorities that further our mission, the Drs. Stilson have been named LLUAHSC DISTINGUISHED HUMANITARIAN AWARD recipients for 2011. The award was presented to Dr. Mildred A.R. Stilson at the Conferring of Degrees for the School of Medicine.

Patrick Y. and Linda C. Wong—Distinguished Humanitarian Award

Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center (LLUAHSC) is pleased to name Dr. Patrick Y. and Mrs. Linda C. Wong the 2011 recipients of the LLUAHSC DISTINGUISHED HUMANITARIAN AWARD.

Linda Chan was born in Malaysia but relocated as a young child with her family to Singapore. After completing her secondary school education, she continued her studies in the Trinity College of Music—a leading international conservatory located in London, England—where her creative talents and abilities could be advanced.

Patrick Y. Wong’s family relocated from Fukien, the province of his birth—located in the southern region of China—to Hong Kong while he was still a young boy.

Growing up, he was shaped in part by a home environment in which his father, Wong Kerlee, challenged him with incisive questions—encouraging him to think analytically, critique carefully, and advocate effectively. The strong Christian faith of his mother, Lin Chinhwa, as well as the encouragement of several mentors, were also key influences in his life. He completed high school at Avondale College in Australia and later was awarded a medical degree from the University of Sydney.

Linda and Patrick—who were married after his graduation from medical school—immigrated to the United States where he completed an internal medicine residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Research in the Thorndyke Laboratory at Harvard Medical School (Boston, Massachusetts) and later at Albany Medical College (New York) preceded his decision to establish a gastroenterology practice in San Francisco, California. A Fellow of the American College of Physicians and of the American Gastroenterological Association, Dr. Wong has maintained a flourishing practice for thirty-two years.

Through the years, Dr. and Mrs. Wong have not only modeled personal and professional excellence, but they have also encouraged pursuits that contribute to whole-person balance. For example, as patrons to budding musicians, they have hosted performing events and receptions in their home as well as occasions enhanced by Mrs. Wong’s graciousness and well-regarded culinary skills.

Dr. and Mrs. Wong have three adult children—Ervin, Cherilyn, and Martin­­—and one granddaughter, Clara.

Dr. Wong has served as a member of the Boards of Trustees for Loma Linda University (LLU) and Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center (LLUAHSC). In this capacity, he has helped provide insightful leadership during critical periods spanning two administrations in the history of these entities. On April 13, 2011, Dr. Wong became an emeritus board member.

Recognizing the imperative for LLU and LLUAHSC to continue responding to changing and challenging times, Dr. and Mrs. Wong have supported several major philanthropic endeavors—not only in their role as ambassadors communicating the University’s vision and mission to audiences in diverse cultural contexts, but also through their personal sacrifice prompted by a deep appreciation for God’s gracious blessings in their lives. The most recent demonstration of their exceptional generosity is the Wong Pavilion in the Centennial Complex.

For their commitment to the advancement of Loma Linda University as a center of excellence in education, research, and patient care, as well as their commitment to our mission—”To make man whole”—Dr. and Mrs. Wong were presented the humanitarian award at the Conferring of Degrees for the School of Medicine.