The Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award presented by The Arnold P. Gold Foundation recognizes graduating medical students who are exemplars, and faculty members who are mentors and exemplars of humanism in the care of patients and families. Those honored with this special recognition become members of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.
View a list of the 2024 recipients of the Tow Award, searchable by recipient name or institution.
How do you pronounce “Tow”? “Tow” rhymes with “wow”.
Are you a Tow honoree? Congratulations and welcome! As Tow awardee, you are also a Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) member. We encourage you to log into the Gold Member Portal today to engage with other Gold Humanism Honor Society members and learn about opportunities that aim to foster community among humanistic colleagues.
In the Gold Member Portal, update your profile to your current, personal email address and add a photo of yourself. There you can search the member directory, join an interest group, and access programming geared toward this unique community.
In 2025, we are updating our award process. Visit Eligibility, Selection Criteria, Process, and How to Apply to learn more.
“This award is an amazing insight into how others see your passion. It’s humbling and an extremely huge honor that I will not take lightly. I will work harder every day to be an even better healer so that I can fulfill the expectations set by those young impressionable excited lives who bestowed this upon me”
– Eva Patton-Tackett, MD, Associate Professor, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University; received the Tow Award as faculty member from Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in 2024.
“These are the last awards presented before the school medallion award (indicating they are some of the most important) and the Tow Award is the only faculty award presented at the Senior awards banquet. The esteem for the award and the values behind it are well understood and highly regarded.”
– Trish Sexton, DHEd, Associate Dean, Medical Education, ATSU – Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, Missouri
“This prestigious award highlights the exceptional achievements of our faculty and students who have gone above and beyond. For the deserving recipients, it recognizes their clinical excellence, compassionate care, and commitment to fostering a better environment for their peers, patients, and broader community. This honor serves as an inspiring reminder of the reason we chose medicine as our noble calling and underscores the importance of embodying these humanistic qualities in daily practice.”
– Dr. Kim Ha Wadsworth, DO, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, Yakima, Washington
“It really was such an honor to be recognized with the [Tow Award] as a graduating medical student….most of the awards [at our graduation ceremony] were for academic performance, but this was for humanism in medicine. One of my classmates who was there looked at me and she said, “That was the most significant award of all.”
– Olapeju Simoyan, MD, Professor, Psychiatry, at Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA; received the student Tow Award from Penn State College of Medicine.
“It has been an honor for NEOMED to have a faculty member and graduating student receive these awards as they best demonstrate the Gold Foundation’s ideals of outstanding compassion in the delivery of care, respect for patients, their families and health care colleagues, as well as demonstrate clinical excellence. We are so proud of all of our recipients!”
– Harmony Stanger, Assistant Director of Student Affairs, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), Rootstown, Ohio.
“This award is extremely meaningful to the award recipients. It is a powerful example of humanism in medicine which creates untold ripples of improved compassion and patient care. The Faculty feel a sense of pride and joy over their student and colleague.”
– Tami Hendriksz, DO, Dean & Chief Academic Officer, Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine, Vallejo, CA.
The Gold Foundation champions humanism in healthcare, which we define as kind, safe, and trustworthy care. Those honored with the Tow Award are expected to reflect these values in daily practice and to continuously strive to be exemplars of humanism in healthcare.