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Lifetime Service and Leadership Award

The award was established by the School of Medicine Recognitions Committee on behalf of the Dean to recognize a faculty member's significant service to the School of Medicine through personal activities, influence, and leadership over the course of many years.

Faculty member accepts glass award on stage with dean

2025 Award Winners

William Shafer Microbiology and Immunology

Over the past 40 years, Dr. William Shafer has exemplified excellence as an educator, scholar, and dedicated member of the Emory community.

Dr. Shafer has been a remarkable educator, teaching Medical Microbiology to second-year medical students since 1987. His teaching has been recognized with numerous awards, including Outstanding Didactic Lecturer, Excellence in Teaching, and the Dean’s Teaching Award. He has mentored 13 PhD students, 15 postdoctoral fellows, and served on over 150 thesis committees. He has also significantly advanced training at Emory, directing the NIH-funded Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapeutic Discovery Training Program (T32) since 2010. Since 2020, he has been invited annually to teach at the Pasteur Institute’s international course on antibiotic resistance. 

Dr. Shafer’s research accomplishments are equally impressive. His career has addressed bacterial antibiotic resistance with a focus on Neisseria gonorrhoeae, one of the most antibiotic resistant of all bacteria and recognized by both the CDC and World Health Organization as a priority pathogen for the development of new antibiotics. Dr. Shafer has maintained continuous NIH and VA funding since 1984, including an R37 MERIT award for 34 years, and authored 163 papers, 16 book chapters, and 27 reviews. His work earned him the Dean’s Eminent Investigator Award in 2022.

Beyond teaching and research, Dr. Shafer has served on 48 Emory committees, chaired national NIH study sections, participated in editorial boards, and engaged in community outreach on antibiotic resistance.

Dr. Shafer’s extraordinary four-decade legacy makes him a truly deserving recipient of the Lifetime Service and Leadership Award.

William Shafer headshot

Nanette Kass Wenger Medicine

Dr. Nanette Kass Wenger has been a member of the Emory faculty for over 55 years. Dr. Wenger began her career at Grady Memorial Hospital, rising to serve as Clinical Chief of Cardiology. Her decades of service include leadership on numerous committees, such as the Admissions Committee, Dean’s Committee on the Status of Women, University Senate, Cardiology Fellowship Executive Committee among many others. Through these roles, she has shaped policies, advanced equity, and enhanced educational and research programs across the institution.

Dr. Wenger’s impact extends far beyond administrative service. She has been a tireless mentor, inspiring generations of cardiology trainees, particularly women entering a field that historically offered limited leadership opportunities. She has championed women’s cardiovascular health, contributed to multi-center clinical trials, and continues to teach and supervise fellows in the outpatient clinic as an emeritus faculty member, reflecting her unwavering commitment to patient care and education.

Her accomplishments have been recognized with virtually every major award from the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and numerous professional societies. Yet, her most profound legacy is the lives she has touched, the careers she has guided, and the culture of excellence she has fostered at Emory.

Dr. Wenger’s lifelong dedication to service, mentorship, and leadership makes her an exemplary recipient of this award.

Nanette Kass Wenger headshot

Previous Awardees

2024

2022

2021 

2020 

2019 

2018 



Nomination Process

One award will be given annually.

Deadline

Nominations will be accepted through July 10, 2025.

Eligibility

All current faculty members with a primary appointment in the SOM and a minimum of twenty-five years of service to SOM. Those who have received this award in the past are not eligible. View previous award winners online.

Nominations

Faculty must be nominated by a faculty member, staff member, or trainee of Emory University.  The nomination should consist of a concise narrative (1000 words or less) describing the nominee’s outstanding and distinguished service to and leadership in the SOM during their tenure at Emory.  Service and leadership are expected to go above and beyond what is required for one’s role.

Submission

Use the online Award Nomination Form and include the following:

  • Nominating letter (1000 words or less)
  • Nominee’s current Curriculum Vitae

Decision

Will be made by the School of Medicine Recognitions Committee and approved by the Dean.

Award

The recipient of the School of Medicine Lifetime Service and Leadership Award will be announced and honored during the annual Celebration of Faculty Eminence.

Questions should be directed to SOM Office of Faculty Academic Affairs and Professional Development at somfde@emory.edu.