This article was originally published through VCU School of Medicine.

‘My highest and most treasured honor’

2026 VCU Investiture Celebration honors dozens of School of Medicine faculty recently awarded endowed professorship and chair positions.

Fourteen faculty members from the Department of Internal Medicine stand in front of a V-C-U banner during the 2026 V-C-U Investiture Celebration

School of Medicine faculty commemorate recent appointments at the 2026 VCU Investiture Celebration Dinner. (Photo by Jud Froelich, VCU Development and Alumni Relations)

By Erin Lucero 
School of Medicine 
eclucero@vcu.edu

October 20, 2026

“Every day, our work helps provide answers for patients and their families during some of the most challenging moments of their lives,” said Hope Richard, M.D., Ph.D. “At the same time, I have the privilege of mentoring trainees and junior faculty who will shape the future of our profession. The combination of service, discovery and education creates a continuous sense of purpose and possibility that makes academic medicine extraordinarily rewarding.” 

 

On Oct. 15, the associate professor and vice chair for clinical operations in the Department of Pathology was among 77 faculty members from across the university honored at the 2026 VCU Investiture Celebration Dinner. The honorees – the university’s newest appointees to endowed professorship and chair positions – included 46 faculty from the School of Medicine who were formally invested and presented with medallions during the celebration.

The positions are made possible by donors who generously endowed funds that exist in perpetuity to sustain the medical school’s missions of research, patient care and education. The endowments carry the names of outstanding alumni, faculty and friends who have led and benefited from the school’s work.

Richard was appointed to the Saul Kay Endowed Chair in Diagnostic Pathology. “Every advancement begins with someone who believes in the mission,” she said. “Donors make it possible to move promising ideas into meaningful action.”
Through Unlocking Potential: VCU's Campaign for the Future, philanthropic investment continues to grow. Today, 189 endowed professorships and chairs support faculty members who advance the mission of VCU Health, Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and the School of Medicine. 

“Endowed professorships are a cornerstone of academic excellence, allowing the School of Medicine to recruit and retain distinguished faculty whose work advances our research and clinical missions,” said Stephen L. Kates, M.D., interim dean of the VCU School of Medicine, who holds the James W. and Frances G. McGlothin Chair of Orthopaedics. “We are profoundly grateful for the extraordinary generosity and vision of the donors who partner with us to enhance our capacity to tackle complex diseases and foster healthier communities.”

This year’s honorees commented that the funds help them to translate discoveries into potential therapeutic approaches, create more opportunities for students to get involved in research, build a statewide learning system for primary care and directly accelerate breakthroughs that would otherwise remain out of reach. 

The Department of Internal Medicine’s Lisa Brath, M.D., was appointed to the Orhan Muren Professorship that carries the name of the longtime faculty leader who was one of her mentors. “Of all the awards I have been fortunate to receive through my career, being named the Orhan Muren Professor is, without a doubt, my highest and most treasured honor.”

This year’s honorees include 46 SOM faculty (Internal Medicine faculty in bold):

  • Dr. Michel Aboutanos, Rao Ivatury, M.D., Professorship
  • Dr. Kelley Allison, Veronica Donovan Sweeney Breast Imaging Professorship
  • Dr. Christine Baca, George B. Bliley Professorship in Medical Research
  • Dr. Matthew Barrett, Joan Massey Endowed Chair
  • Dr. Monica Baskin, Jeanette and Eric Lipman Chair in Oncology
  • Dr. Richard Bennett, Walter E. Bundy Jr. Professorship in Community Pediatrics
  • Dr. Jaime Bohl, Fletcher Emory Ammons Professorship in Surgery
  • Dr. Paula Bos, Mary Anderson Harrison Distinguished Professorship in Cancer Research
  • Dr. Lisa Brath, Orhan Muren Professorship
  • Dr. Ashley Cowart, John D. Bower, M.D., Endowed Chair of Cellular, Molecular and Genetic Medicine
  • Dr. Mary Daly, Ragnit and Walter J. Geeraets Chair in Ophthalmology
  • Dr. Kelley Dodson, Aristides Sismanis, MD and Anna Sismanis, MD Professorship
  • Dr. Shaimaa Fadl, Charles L. Baird Jr., M.D., Professorship in Cardiovascular Imaging
  • Dr. Gordon Ginder, Judith Talley Secor Chair
  • Dr. Scott Graham, M. Theresa and Harold F. Young Neurosurgery Chair
  • Dr. Gaurav Gupta, Sir Hans A. Krebs Chair of Nephrology
  • Dr. Yuya Hagiwara, Thomas Palliative Care Fund
  • Dr. Jeffrey Haynes, Arnold M. Salzberg, M.D., Professorship in Pediatric Surgery
  • Dr. Mary Helen Hackney, Commonwealth Endowed Professorship in Breast Cancer Excellence
  • Dr. Marieka Helou, Barry V. Kirkpatrick, M.D., Professorship
  • Dr. Karen Hendricks-Muñoz, Jessie Ball duPont Professorship in Pediatrics
  • Dr. Christine Isaacs, Leo J. Dunn Chair in OB-GYN
  • Dr. Nicholas Johnson, Armas Family Chair in Pediatric Muscular Dystrophy
  • Dr. Saul Karpen, Phillip B. Hylemon Endowed Professor of Medicine and Microbiology
  • Dr. Brian Kogon, David Witt Endowed Chair in Pediatric Congenital Heart Surgery
  • Dr. Tomasz Kordula, Sarah Spiegel Endowed Professorship
  • Dr. Anson Koshy, Dr. James H. Franklin Professorship in Developmental Pediatrics
  • Dr. Alex Krist, Sheldon M. Retchin Professorship in Healthcare Innovation
  • Dr. Jordana Kron, Harrigan Family Professorship in Inflammatory Diseases of Heart and Vascular
  • Dr. Jessica LaRose, Theresa A. Thomas Memorial Foundation Chair in Cancer Prevention and Control
  • Dr. Hermine Maes, Walter E. Nance, M.D., Ph.D., Professorship in Human Genetics
  • Dr. Kandace McGuire, Walter Lawrence Jr., M.D., Endowed Chair in Oncology
  • Dr. Bushra Mubashshir, William and Ruth McDonough Professorship in Graduate Psychiatric Education
  • Dr. Melissa Nelson, Walter E. Bundy Jr. Professorship in Community Pediatrics
  • Dr. Patricia Nicolato, Thomas Rutherfoord Brown Family Professorship
  • Dr. Ronald Ramus, Fay O. Redwine, M.D. Endowed Chair
  • Dr. Evan Reiter, Peter N. and Julia R. Pastore Professorship in Otolaryngology
  • Dr. Fariba Rezaee, Eleanor Goode Endowed Chair for Pediatrics
  • Dr. Hope Richard, Saul Kay Endowed Chair in Diagnostic Pathology
  • Dr. Beth Rubinstein, Charles W. and Evelyn F. Thomas Chair in Rheumatology
  • Dr. Nehal Shah, Charles W. Thomas Professorship in Rheumatology
  • Dr. Sangeeta Shah, Harrigan Family Cardiology Professorship
  • Dr. Christopher Snyder, Louise Robertson, M.D., Professorship in Pediatric Cardiology
  • Dr. Huzaefah Syed, Elam C. Toone Jr. Distinguished Professorship in Rheumatology and Arthritis
  • Dr. Duane Williams, John Mickell, M.D., Endowed Chair at Children's Hospital Foundation
  • Dr. Guang-Yu Yang, Carolyn Wingate Hyde Endowed Chair in Cancer Research