Four eminent Texas physicians will receive the University of Texas Medical Branch Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus Award during a ceremony at William C. Levin Hall on Friday, May 29.
The honorees – Drs. Joseph S. Coselli, Michael D. McKinney, G. Walter McReynolds, and Robert D. Wilkins – are all graduates of UTMB. They will also be recognized at the medical school commencement ceremony May 30 at Moody Gardens.
“It’s a great privilege to welcome these distinguished physicians to their UTMB alma mater and to recognize their considerable accomplishments,” said Dr. David L. Callender, president of UTMB.
“Think about how many people are living better lives because of the work that these men have done and continue to do,” he said. “We are honored to have physicians of this stature in the family. They have a commitment to serve their patients, their profession and their communities, and they have succeeded.”
The Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus Award — the highest alumni honor bestowed by the university’s School of Medicine Alumni Association — recognizes outstanding service to the medical profession and to humanity. It honors the memory of Dr. Ashbel Smith, a prominent figure in Texas medicine, politics and education. Smith was instrumental in establishing the University of Texas at Austin in 1881 and, in 1891, a medical department in Galveston that would become UTMB.
Biographies of the honorees
Dr. Joseph S. Coselli, a 1977 UTMB School of Medicine graduate, is professor and chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He serves as associate chief of the cardiovascular service at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and chief of adult cardiac surgery at the Texas Heart Institute. He is also director of the thoracic surgery residency program at Baylor and directs the aortic surgery clinic and research foundation, a collaborative effort of the three institutions to advance research, education and patient care in the field of cardiothoracic surgery.
Coselli specializes in the evaluation and surgical treatment of diseases of the aorta. He is internationally-recognized and has performed more than 6,000 repairs of the aorta. In 2001 he received the Michael E. DeBakey Research in Excellence Award for his work on the surgical treatment of aortic aneurysms, aortic dissection and Marfan syndrome. He has earned many prestigious awards for his work in thoracic surgery and was the physician honoree at the American Heart Association’s Houston Heart Ball in 2008. He currently serves as president of the Texas Surgical Society.
Coselli received an undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame. After graduating from UTMB, he completed residencies in general surgery and thoracic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine where he has been a faculty member for 25 years. He is married to Kelly Coselli and has two children.
Dr. Michael D. McKinney, a 1976 School of Medicine graduate, is the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, which includes 11 universities, seven state agencies and a comprehensive health science center. The A&M System employs nearly 27,000 faculty and staff and has a current enrollment of more than 109,000 students.
Since becoming chancellor in 2006, McKinney has focused on faculty recruitment, diversity and expansion of research. Under his leadership, externally funded research for the A&M System has grown to more than $676 million annually. Recent collaborative commercialization projects have included the creation of the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing and an agreement with the Port of Corpus Christi Authority to develop the soon-to-be closed Naval Station Ingleside into a facility to study the use of wind for energy as well as other forms of renewable energy. The A&M System has recently added two new independent universities, Texas A&M University-Central Texas and Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
Before joining the Texas A&M System, McKinney served as senior executive vice president and chief operating officer for the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He is a former chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry, and was appointed commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission by former Gov. George W. Bush. McKinney practiced medicine for 16 years in Centerville, Texas, and served in the State Legislature from 1984 to 1991. He was recognized as one of the Ten Best Legislators and was speaker pro-tempore from 1989 to 1990.
Dr. Walter McReynolds, a 1969 School of Medicine graduate, is a private practitioner with Houston Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic and chairman of the board of the Houston Ear Research Foundation, one of the largest cochlear implant centers in the nation. The ENT Clinic in cooperation with the Houston Ear Research Foundation operates the largest universal newborn hearing screening program in Texas
In practice for more than 35 years, McReynolds has served as a principal investigator on national and international studies on cochlear implants. He has served as a clinical associate professor of otolaryngology at UTMB since 1974 and has organized and provided ongoing otolaryngology rotations for UTMB residents at his clinic. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Otolaryngology and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
McReynolds is a long-time Houston philanthropist who has raised funds for Rice University, the Salvation Army, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and major area medical institutions, including the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. Recently, he served as Houston co-chairman for UTMB’s $260 million capital campaign.
The son of former UTMB otolaryngology head, Dr. George S. McReynolds, he graduated from Rice University in 1964 and earned his medical degree in 1969. He completed his residency at Hermann Hospital in Houston and at UTMB in Galveston. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Otolaryngology and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. McReynolds and his wife, Linda, have two daughters, Merritt McReynolds Marinelli, and Dr. Larkin Street McReynolds. They have two grandchildren, Caroline Grey Marinelli and Margaux McReynolds Marinelli.
Dr. Robert B. Wilkins, a 1964 School of Medicine graduate, practices ophthalmology at Houston Eye Associates where he served as president for nine years. His interests include general ophthalmology, plastic surgery of the eyes, orbit and tearing apparatus. He is the former president of the Houston Ophthalmological Society.
Wilkins is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and has been active in residency training programs at UTMB and in Houston. He is a clinical professor of ophthalmology at UTMB.
A Galveston native and longtime supporter of UTMB, Wilkins is a philanthropist who has helped to fund UTMB research on macular degeneration and diabetes, and has served on the UTMB Development Board and the President’s Cabinet. He was the “dean” and organizer of the first UTMB Mini Medical School, a public educational outreach program that began in 1999 at the John P. McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science in Houston.
After receiving his undergraduate degree at the University of North Texas and his medical degree at UTMB, Wilkins completed an internship in Dallas, a residency in ophthalmology and ophthalmic surgery in Michigan, and a fellowship with Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital in New York City. He continued his studies at the Eye Foundation Hospital in Alabama, where he was one of the founding members of the American Society of Oculoplastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
In addition, Wilkins is the creator and one of the writers of “Galveston! The Musical,” which provides funds to benefit the city’s Strand Theatre. He has two grown children, Nicole and Rob, and two grandchildren, Claire and Barkley. Wilkins is newly-engaged to Dr. Mary Ann Reynolds.