4 will receive diversity awards

The recipients demonstrate a commitment to improving diversity.
ROOTSTOWN -- Two physicians, a recent graduate and a late member of the board of trustees will be honored at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine's Annual Diversity Leadership Awards Dinner on March 25.
The event, "Keeping the Dream Alive," is run in conjunction with NEOUCOM's Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Ralph Regula Conference Center.
Four awards will be presented, recognizing individuals and organizations consistently demonstrating a commitment to improving diversity in the health care professions.
Dr. Lolita M. McDavid, medical director of Child Advocacy and Protection at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Cleveland, will be the guest speaker.
Receiving awards
The awards and their recipients are:
Faculty/Staff Leadership and Excellence Award: Dr. Raymond E. Clarke of Akron, a NEOUCOM associate professor of clinical pathology, has been a member of the NEOUCOM faculty since 1980 and in 2004 was inducted as a Master Teacher in the NEOUCOM Master Teacher Guild. He has received numerous teaching awards and honors both at the College of Medicine as well as at Summa Health System in Akron, where he serves as chairman of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and residency program director in pathology.
He serves on the NEOUCOM Foundation Board of Directors. He is a Diplomate, American Board of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, and is president of the National Medical Association, Akron Chapter.
Alumni Legacy Award: Dr. Fareedah Goodwin, of Warren, (Class of 2002) practices family medicine at Warren Family Medical in Warren. She has received a number of awards and honors including NEOUCOM's Service to Community Award and the Wilburn H. Weddington, M.D., Minority Medical Student Award from the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. She is a past member of the NEOUCOM Alumni Association Board of Directors and remains active at the College on various special projects.
Community-Based Diversity Partner Award: Given posthumously to James R. Schubert of Kent. Schubert served as chairman of the NEOUCOM Board of Trustees until his death in December 2005. As a member of the NEOUCOM Board of Trustees since 1999, and as a member of the Kent State University Board of Trustees since 1998, he served as a steadfast champion and friend of students, faculty and staff and provided excellent administrative and fiscal advice. Through his leadership the NEOUCOM Board of Trustees Diversity Scholarship Initiative was established and he was instrumental in helping NEOUCOM establish its College of Pharmacy.
Schubert was the retired president and chief executive officer of Schubert Industries Inc., and the former co-owner and chief executive officer of Springwall Mattress Companies of Akron.
Rising Star Student Achievement Award: Jennifer R. Walton of Twinsburg, a member of the NEOUCOM Class of 2006. Walton entered NEOUCOM's B.S./M.D. program and attended Kent State University. As an undergraduate, she received numerous merit-based scholarships and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Kappa Mu, Alpha Lamda Delta and Golden Key honor societies. In 2003, she was one of only six students in the nation to be awarded the National Medical Association's Emerging Scholars Award.
She assisted the College with its 2003 reaccreditation site visits by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education and the North Central Association and this year serves as the national vice president of the Student National Medical Association. At NEOUCOM she served as a student ambassador and assisted with the American Medical Association/American Medical Student Association Talent Show.