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Walter Zeit Fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin

Walter Zeit 14

Since its inception in 1980, the Walter Zeit Fellowship has contributed significantly to MCW’s Annual Fund for Excellence as well as specific MCW programs. Members of the Walter Zeit Fellowship display leadership, loyalty, service, initiative and compassion for their community. These characteristics represent Dr. Zeit’s many contributions to MCW.

All Walter Zeit Fellows are listed in MCW’s online Annual Report and Honor Roll and are recognized at a formal recognition dinner each year in autumn. During this dinner they present the Walter Zeit Leadership Award to the outstanding student recipient, as well as celebrate the recipients of the three Walter Zeit Founding Dean awards. You can read more about each award below. 

Membership in the Walter Zeit Fellowship is attainable through a minimum commitment of $25,000, payable over a maximum of five years ($5,000 per year). A Zeit contribution may be designated to the Annual Fund for Excellence, MCW’s only source of unrestricted funds, or any purpose you choose.

View Walter Zeit Fellowship Members (PDF)

Honoring Our Walter Zeit Fellowship Award Recipients

This year’s award recipients truly embody the exemplary dedication and service that was not only exhibited by Walter Zeit, PhD ‘39, but also shared by each Walter Zeit Fellow.

Zeit Leadership Award and Founding Dean Award Recipients 2024-2025

Mark Ehioghae

Mark Ehioghae

Walter Zeit Leadership Award

Molly Perry

Molly Perry

Matthew Hunsaker, MD Founding Dean Award

Justin York

Justin York

Lisa G. Dodson, MD Founding Dean Award

Amelia Papadimitriou

Amelia Papadimitriou

Louis F. Jermain, MD Founding Dean Award

Awards Presented by the Walter Zeit Fellowship

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Walter Zeit Leadership Award

This award is presented to a senior student who has consistently displayed superior qualities of leadership, loyalty, selfless service, initiative, and compassion toward his or her peers and to MCW. These criteria are exemplified by members of the Walter Zeit Fellowship, MCW’s premier donor recognition society. Begun in 1980 by the late Derward Lepley, MD ‘49, the Fellowship has grown to more than 1,300 members. The Fellowship is named in honor of the late Walter Zeit, PhD ‘39, an anatomy professor who became a part of MCW’s heritage during his 50-year teaching career.

This group promotes and acknowledges substantial individual philanthropy. Support by the Walter Zeit Fellows underpins MCW’s four-fold mission of education, research, patient care and community engagement. The Walter Zeit Leadership Award is possible thanks to contributions from the Walter Zeit Fellows.

Matthew Hunsaker, MD Founding Dean Award

This award is presented annually by the Walter Zeit Fellowship to a graduating student at MCW-Green Bay to recognize their dedication and service to MCW and the community. The award is named after MCW-Green Bay’s founding dean, and is made possible thanks to contributions from the Walter Zeit Fellowship, MCW’s premier donor recognition society.

Past Recipients
Hannah Mueller-Boysen ‘23
Emma Lankey ’22
Brittany Rupp ‘21
Lindsay Finn ‘20
Lauren E. Thomas ‘19

Lisa G. Dodson, MD Founding Dean Award

This award is presented annually by the Walter Zeit Fellowship to a graduating student at MCW-Central Wisconsin to recognize their dedication and service to MCW and the community. The award is named after MCW-Central Wisconsin’s founding dean, and is made possible thanks to contributions from the Walter Zeit Fellowship, MCW’s premier donor recognition society.

Past Recipients
Jonathan Bressler ‘23
Margaret (Meg) Lieb ’22
John Feemster ‘21
Elizabeth Wendt ‘20
Kyle D. Olson ‘19

Louis F. Jermain, MD Founding Dean Award

This award is presented annually by the Walter Zeit Fellowship to a graduating student at MCW-Milwaukee to recognize their dedication and service to MCW and the community. The award is named after the medical school’s founding dean, and is made possible thanks to contributions from the Walter Zeit Fellowship, MCW’s premier donor recognition society.

Past Recipients
Leah Gerlach ‘23
Chase LaRue ’22
Peter Nguyen ‘21
Daniel Kadden ‘20
Kieran E. McAvoy ‘19

Past Walter Zeit Leadership Award Recipients

William R. Hathaway ’88
Robert J. Tait ’89
Aldo Trovato ’90
Claudia M. Keidl Hoyen ’91
John E. Connolly, Jr. ’92
Nancy M. Grant ’93
Eric M. Siegal ’94
Robert R. Leschke ’95
Lina M. AbuJamra ’96
Timothy A. Crummy ’97
Cassandra D. Howard ’98
Nancy E. Havas ’99
Nikki J. Booms Allen ’00
Jeffrey A. Huebner ’01
Linda L. Sewell ’02
Travis N. Murray ’03
Susan L. Goldsmith ’04
Kara G. Miller Gill ’05
Michael R. Clark ’06
Sachin S. Pawar ’07
Sherrill D. Gutierrez ’08
Ana N. Cabán Cardona ’09
Alexis A. Vosooney ’10
Nicholas A. Kuehnel ’11
Elica Inagaki ’12
Emily J. Sweet ’13
Laura E. Tisch ’14
Lara Renee India Rosewicz ’15
Julia N. Keyes ’16
Phoebe Jensen ’17
Douglas Pierce ’18
Emily A. Navarrete ’19
Mario Castellanos ‘20
Greta Berger ‘21
Megan Barthels ’22
Nina Punyamurthy ‘23

History of the Walter Zeit Fellowship

The late Derward Lepley, Jr., MD ‘49 formed the Walter Zeit Fellowship in 1980 to honor and permanently recognize the many contributions of Dr. Walter Zeit. Few individuals have been as closely associated with the Medical College of Wisconsin or have contributed as much to its growth as Dr. Walter Zeit.

Walter Zeit, MDIn 1921, when Dr. Zeit first joined the Anatomy Department of what was then the Marquette University School of Medicine as a student assistant, the institution was in its infancy. It had been formed just eight years earlier through a merger of the Wisconsin College of Physicians & Surgeons and the Milwaukee Medical College. He went on to become a triple alumnus of Marquette University, receiving a BS in 1925, an MS in 1927 and a PhD in 1939.

Throughout his distinguished career as a teacher of anatomy, with faculty appointments ranging from student assistant to associate dean, Dr. Zeit instructed well over 4,500 medical students and thousands of other health care profession students. He was known for bringing a keen vitality to his teaching, raising anatomy from an academic discipline to a fresh and dynamic educational experience. He is best remembered by his students for the personal attention and understanding he shared with them. Dr. Zeit witnessed a half-century of phenomenal growth at MCW and he was also an integral part of that growth.

He was a gifted research scientist whose published work involved studies of nerve endings, and the structure and function of the junction between nerve fibers and muscle bodies. His affiliation with the Medical College of Wisconsin ultimately spanned six decades, three buildings and five deans.

“It gratifies me to know that the school is in good hands and its future as a quality academic school is assured.” Walter Zeit, PhD


Contact Us

Learn more about giving and the Walter Zeit Fellowship

Elsa Knysak

Director of Development

(414) 955-4516

eknysak@mcw.edu
 

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