Contact:
John Rodgers
(212) 821-0560
jdr2001@med.cornell.edu
New York, NY – June 22, 2010 – In honor of his major support toward advancing cancer care, Sanford I. Weill is the recipient of the 2010 James Ewing Layman's Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology. Mr. Weill is chairman of the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College.
The award was presented by Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi, the Society's president, and the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and surgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The ceremony took place on March 6 at the Society's 63rd Annual President's Banquet, held at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis.
"I cannot overstate the contributions of Joan and Sandy Weill, whose steadfast support has extended our ability to research new treatments and provide the best available patient care across all areas of medicine, including cancer," said Dr. Michelassi. "Physicians, students and patients are all better off because of their remarkable leadership and vision."
Mr. Weill joined the Weill Cornell Medical College Board of Overseers in 1982, becoming chair in 1996. A trustee emeritus of Cornell University, he serves on the advisory council of its Johnson Graduate School of Management. In addition, he is a trustee of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and an overseer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Mr. Weill and his wife, Joan, have donated more than $800 million to organizations, including Weill Cornell Medical College; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Sidra, a teaching hospital to be completed at the Medical College's Qatar campus in 2012; and Weill Bugando Medical Centre in Tanzania, one of Africa's top physician training programs.
Thanks to leadership by the Weills, construction is underway for a new Medical Research Building. The building will be the locus of the new Weill Cornell Cancer Center which was created to translate basic science discoveries into effective preventive and treatment strategies, create synergies in cancer research, advance global efforts in cancer prevention, and educate and train medical professionals and researchers.
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell has cancer programs in numerous areas, including the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute of Hematology and Oncology, the Lehman Brothers Lung Cancer Research Center, and the Multiple Myeloma Center.
Mr. Weill is a graduate of Cornell University. He and Joan have been married for 54 years and have two children and four grandchildren.
