MCW/Marquette Medical Alumni Association Awards
Each year, the MCW/Marquette Medical Alumni Association selects alumni for its highest honors to acknowledge their contributions to improving health through medicine, science and other means. On September 22, the Alumni Association honored five 2023 award recipients at the Alumni Weekend banquet.
2023 Award Recipients
Roland H. Winter, MD '83, received the Humanitarian of the Year Award. Dr. Winter is an orthopedic surgeon with St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton, California. Those close to him share that his humble sense of humor, generosity and kindness are infectious. Whether to his country, his patients, his family and friends, or to his community, this “gentle giant” has consistently and generously given his knowledge, skills and time. A true humanitarian.
While in the US Air Force, he served as Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at Clark AFB, the Philippines, and was later deployed to Turkey at the Iraq border in 1991. In both deployments, he volunteered for duties beyond those required. In the Philippines, Dr. Winter evaluated and treated civilians with serious injuries from areas devastated by an earthquake. In Turkey, he volunteered to go into Iraq to treat soldiers. For these actions, he received two USAF Humanitarian Service medals. In 1995-96 he volunteered with the Flying Samaritans at the San Quentin Free Clinic in Baja California, Mexico.
He has served as the team physician for St. Mary’s High School for the past 29 years. In 2019, the University of the Pacific established the "Dr. Roland Winter Sports Medicine Staff Recognition Award" and it has been given out annually for invaluable contribution to the continued success of the UOP athletic training program, the education of its students, and the care of its athletes.
In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Winter has also served on the Board of Directors in the California Orthopaedic Association and continues to serve on the Legislation Committee.
The Alumni Association is pleased to honor Dr. Roland H. Winter with this award.
View Dr. Winter's 2023 Humanitarian of the Year Remarks Video
A. John Capelli, MD '78, GME '81, posthumously received the Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Capelli was a proud MCW alumnus, Class of 1978. He also completed a residency in Family Medicine. John joined the MCW/Marquette Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors and served for two terms. In addition, he was an energetic and committed Committee Leader for every Reunion Celebration. John truly fostered a lifetime connection to the Medical College of Wisconsin and to all the alumni in the Class of 1978. He also maintained a focus on educating future physicians and was an exceptional mentor to many.
Dr. Capelli modeled generosity, inclusiveness, an amazing work ethic, persistence, thoughtfulness and real Italian affection and compassion.
In 2018, his Class of 1978 classmates established the A. John Capelli, MD Endowed Scholarship Fund, so that the next generation of young people could fulfill their dreams of becoming skilled and compassionate physicians - just like John.
Dr. Capelli’s life was full of meaning and purpose. The greatest passions in his life were medicine, philanthropy, and family. The Capelli Family included many MCW alumni. Dr. Capelli established his primary care practice in his hometown, caring for those he loved the most; his family, friends and the people of Kenosha. He received numerous Awards from organizations and institutions that are a testimony to his selfless contributions of time, talent and treasure.
The Alumni Association is pleased to honor Dr. Capelli with this award.
View Dr. Capelli's 2023 Distinguished Service Award Recipient Video
Billie Kubly was named Honorary Alumna of the Year. Billie’s association with MCW began when her late husband Michael C. Kubly, MD, was admitted to the Marquette University School of Medicine, the predecessor institution of MCW. From the beginning she was active in the Medical Wives Association, serving on the board and singing in productions put on by the medical students. She stood side by side with Mike through his graduation in 1963.
Dr. and Mrs. Michael C. Kubly have been long-time partners with MCW and their community. Billie has been guided by a personal philosophy to “make a difference, even if only for one person.” In October 2003, the Kubly’s son, Charlie, died from suicide at age 28 after a lengthy battle with depression. Using funds from memorial gifts, the Charles E. Kubly Foundation, a public charity that funds projects and research aimed at reducing suicide was established.
The foundation hosts the Beyond the Blues event every year to fund its philanthropic work. The name entwines both Charlie’s love of blues music, and the family’s goal to help people navigate through and beyond depression. This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Beyond the Blues Event.
Over the past two decades the Kubly’s have made many gifts to MCW, the State of Wisconsin and other organizations to fund numerous psychiatric and behavioral medicine programs and research projects including the Charles E. Kubly Chair which is held by Jon Lehrmann, MD, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine.
Most recently, the Kubly family established the Dr. and Mrs. Michael C. Kubly Community-Based Suicide Prevention Research Program with a significant gift that is a tribute to Michael C. Kubly, as his Class of 1963 marks 60 years in medicine. The program will work to find solutions to the ongoing suicide crisis in Wisconsin by combining the strengths of the MCW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine with the Division of Suicide Prevention in the Comprehensive Injury Center.
In additional to her philanthropic support, Billie also serves as a one-woman suicide hotline, giving out her phone number and taking calls from people in crisis. Thank you for making a difference to so many in need!
We are so pleased to welcome Billie Kubly as our newest Honorary Alumna.
Michael A. Stocker, MD '68, GME '69, MPH, was named the Medical School Alumnus of the Year.
As a clinician, health care executive, and health policy adviser, Dr. Stocker’s impressive, wide-ranging career spanning over 50 years has been a remarkable journey.
Before moving to New York, Dr. Stocker was a practicing physician in Chicago, serving as Associate Chairman of the Department of Family Practice at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. From there, he went on to the positions of President of Cigna Health Plans and General Manager of the New York Area of US Healthcare.
In 1994, Dr. Stocker became President and Chief Executive Officer of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New York, and over the next decade, gains and credit ratings soared as he guided and transformed the organization. His conversion-oriented management of Empire saved it from bankruptcy, accumulated almost $5 billion in social assets for the State of New York, and created an innovative managed care organization focused on operational excellence and reliability.
In the midst of all these business negotiations, the company endured the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Over 1,900 Empire employees worked in 1 World Trade Center that morning. They lost 13 colleagues that day and witnessed and survived terrible events. Amid the sadness of loss and destruction, the company’s resilience, fortified by the changes over the last decade, became a source of deep pride shared by all.
In 2002, Empire converted to a publicly traded company and, in 2005, merged with Anthem. Anthem now serves 33 million people in 14 states. Dr. Stocker went on to serve as Corporate Executive Vice President of Anthem.
After retiring, Dr. Stocker served as Chairman of the Board for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) from 2008 to 2014. He was appointed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. HHC is the largest municipal hospital and healthcare system in the country, serving 1.3 million New Yorkers annually. Those who worked side by side with him describe him in this way, “While his native modesty would reject the notion, Dr. Michael Stocker is a man of great and diverse complications, and to those of us who know him, even only a little, totally fascinating. He is a man of such unshakable integrity, genuine warmth, luminous intelligence, and constant quality that under his chairmanship HHC became better simply by trying to meet his standards.”
Dr. Stocker’s continued voluntary activities complement his professional career. He is a board member of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health and is currently serving on the Board of Montefiore Health System and is Co-Chairman of their medical committee. His expertise in healthcare administration has made him a valued Vice Chairman of the New York eHealth Collaborative and past Chairman of America’s Health Insurance Plans.
We are so proud to honor Dr. Michael Stocker with the Medical School Alumnus of the Year Award.
View Dr. Stocker's 2023 Medical School Alumnus of the Year Remarks Video
Philip S. Clifford, PhD '85, was named the School of Graduate Studies Alumnus of the Year.
Dr. Clifford earned his PhD in Physiology from the MCW School of Graduate Studies in 1985. After doing an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical School, he was recruited back to MCW. He led an active research laboratory funded by the NIH, American Heart Association, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has been a consultant to 15 national and international companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries and a member of the Anesthesia and Respiratory Devices Panel at the FDA.
Dr. Clifford was the founding Associate Dean of the MCW Office of Postdoctoral Education which was among the first handful of postdoctoral offices in the country and was recognized by The Scientist as one of the top ten programs in the US throughout the early 2000s. Dr. Clifford has had a measurable impact on graduate students and postdoctoral fellows not only at MCW but around the country.
On a national level, he participated in the establishment of both the National Postdoctoral Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges GREAT (Graduate Research Education and Training) Group Postdoctorate Leaders Section.
In 2013, he was recruited to be the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Clifford has been an inspirational and dedicated mentor to countless individuals at their various career stages. He has dedicated his life to helping others achieve their full potential and best lives.
We are so pleased to honor Dr. Philip Clifford with this award.
View Dr. Clifford's 2023 School of Graduate Studies Alumnus of the Year Remarks Video
Make Your Nominations for the 2024 Awards!
Distinguished Service
Graduate School Alumnus or Alumna of the Year
Honorary Alumnus or Alumna
This award is presented to non-alumni whose commitment to MCW is unwavering and whose continued support of the college’s education, research, patient care and community engagement efforts are pervasive and demonstrable.