Faculty achievements recognized at UMass Chan’s Educational Recognition Awards and Last Lecture

The UMass Chan Medical School Educational Recognition Awards ceremony on Thursday, April 30, celebrated achievements by faculty of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and T.H. Chan School of Medicine. 

Howard J. Sachs, MD, associate professor of medicine, who received the 2025 Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Teaching and the Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching, delivered the Last Lecture.

“This ceremony is a terrific annual tradition, one that recognizes the heartbeat of an academic institution and our outstanding mission-driven faculty educators who, with passion, purpose and precision, prepare our learners to realize their educational aspirations and thrive in their future professions,” Chancellor Michael F. Collins said in his opening remarks.

The Last Lecture provides the recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Teaching the opportunity to share a message with students and colleagues as if it were the last lecture they would ever give. At UMass Chan, the honor of delivering it is given to the recipient of the prior year’s Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Teaching, in this case, Dr. Sachs. The award is presented annually to a faculty member who has fostered students’ personal, intellectual and professional development. Recipients are nominated by faculty members and selected by the chancellor.

During his lecture, “An Inevitable Journey,” Sachs reflected on his relationships with his colleagues, shared personal teaching stories that he hoped inspired future educators, and detailed his experiences working with medical students and the challenges they faced, particularly in preparing for the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 exam.

“This presentation is a reflection on what we do, and how we’ve progressed and developed as educators,” Sachs said. “The objective is really to inspire the next generation of educators and give them a sense of the joy, excitement and privilege of being a medical educator.”

Sachs is also the recipient of the 2025 Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching, a $10,000 award established by former UMass Board Chair Robert Manning and his wife, Donna Manning, both of whom are UMass alums. The prize honors one outstanding faculty member from each of the five UMass campuses.

Deans’ and faculty awards were presented by Joan Vitello-Cicciu, PhD, the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair of Nursing and dean of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing; Stacy E. Potts, MD, MEd, professor of family medicine & community health and senior associate dean for graduate medical education and clinical affairs; Mary Ellen Lane, PhD, the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair in Biomedical Sciences and dean of the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Elisabeth Chair for the Dean of Medicine, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine; Nancy Skehan, MD’06, associate professor of medicine, and Lela Giannaris, PhD, associate professor of radiology, co-chairs of the Educational Policy Committee. 

Watch the full awards ceremony and Last Lecture on the UMass Chan Medical School YouTube channel.

The 2026 Educational Recognition Award recipients