2024 Annual Awards Dinner
On May 1st the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, Omega-Omega Chapter held its annual awards dinner at Nanina’s in the park, in Belleville, NJ. This annual event celebrates the hard work and achievement of RSDM students, as they are recognized with awards and membership in the OMICRON KAPPA UPSILON, National Dental Honor Society.
More than 70 people were in attendance to share in this special event including faculty, staff, family and the accomplished students at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine. This joyous event culminated with the distribution of awards and alumni memberships by chapter President Dr. Valerie Rico and President-Elect Dr. Donald Lapine. Certificates of Academic Excellence were awarded to student doctors Daniel Kim ‘26, Michael Faugno ‘27, Rachel S. Handelman ’27 and Yooha Kim ’27. Each received a $1,000 award from the OKU-Omega Omega Scholarship Foundation. The Anthony R. Volpe Excellence in Research Award was given to Dr. Alireza Poursayah from the class of 2024 which also included an award of $1,000 from the OKU-Omega Omega Scholarship Foundation. This year’s Dr. William S. Kramer Award of Excellence was given to student doctor Elias Travis from the class of 2025 and was accompanied by a $10,000 award from the OKU-Omega Omega Scholarship Foundation. The final awards of the evening were the induction of Alumni members, representing the best and brightest in the class of 2024. They are Thomas Aloe, Jeremy Bowen, Joy Chang, Joseph Choukair, Maria Fairfield, Shimon Goldstein, Daria Klemick, Julia Lazzara, Michael Pignataro, George Soliman and Nichole Zapata.
First row (l to r): Nichole Zapata, Maria Fairfield, Julia Lazzara, Daria Klemick
Second row (l to r): Jeremy Bowen, Thomas Aloe, Michael Pignataro, George Soliman, Joseph Choukair, and Shimon Goldstein. (Missing from picture is Joy Chang)