Kosair Charities announces award recipients for annual Dreams Take Flight gala

Esteemed leaders chosen for Roger Fox, Sam Swope Community Leadership Awards

Kosair Charities is extremely proud to announce the distinguished recipients of its 2012 Roger Fox Award and Sam Swope Community Leadership Award, both of whom will be honored during Kosair Charities Fourth Annual ‘Dreams Take Flight’ A Gala of Gifts & Grants on Saturday, October 13, at The Kentucky International Convention Center.

The Roger Fox Award, which recognizes a physician’s dedication to children, will be awarded to John Joseph Buchino, M.D., a pioneer in the world of pediatric pathology who first brought fine needle aspiration biopsies to the pediatrics forefront and wrote the initial monograph on the topic. While currently retired from pediatric pathology, he continues to serve the important healthcare needs of Kentuckiana’s children through a multitude of concurrent roles that include Kosair Children’s Hospital, Department of Pathology Consultant; Professor Emeritus, Departments of Pediatrics & Pathology at the University of Louisville; Vice President of the University Pediatrics Foundation; Assistant Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Kentucky; Special Assistant to the Chair, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Louisville; and Medical Director of The Kidz Club.

Buchino is a graduate of the University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine. He completed his Pediatric Residency at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, which is ranked as one of the nation’s top three pediatric hospitals, followed by an Anatomic Pathology Residency with the Department of Pathology at the University of Cincinnati, in addition to a Career Development Fellowship in Pediatric Pathology with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Buchino’s impressive academia accomplishments have spanned more than three decades and began with his appointment as Assistant Instructor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Cincinnati, to his current title of Professor Emeritus with the Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology at the University of Louisville.

A combination of academician and practical businessman has made Buchino an invaluable asset to pediatric pathology specifically, and to the Kentuckiana community as a whole. Since the time of his initial monograph of fine needle aspiration biopsies, he has written over 83 peer-reviewed articles and presentations. Buchino’s commitments to both Kosair Children’s Hospital and the University of Louisville have allowed him to serve on a host of committees. He has served as President of the Kosair Children’s Medical Staff, the Kentucky Society of Pathologists and the Society of Pediatric Pathology. In addition, his volunteerism with church and community groups has been acknowledged through numerous awards for his selflessly devoted time and talent. Buchino is married to Kathleen May and they have five children, Susan Theresa, Mary Elizabeth, Louis Joseph, Michael Vincent and Nancy Adele.

The 2012 Sam Swope Community Leadership Award, in recognition of an individual who has advanced children’s goals for the future through vision, innovation, and self-sacrifice, will be awarded to Geroge E. Fischer. Fischer is the groundbreaking Jefferson County businessman and humanitarian whose incomparable business acumen has set the standard in entrepreneurship and industrialism, while his community leadership and philanthropic efforts have enabled legions of Louisvillians the opportunity to lead more fulfilling lives.

A graduate of the University of Florida, Fischer began his business career with IBM and was the CEO of MetriData Computing Inc. throughout the 1970s. In the 1980s he developed a line of self-service beverage and ice equipment through SerVend International Inc., the family-run company he created with his sons, which revolutionized the food service industry globally and remains one of the industry’s benchmark fixtures thirty years later. Fischer also served as secretary of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet for the State of Kentucky from 1980 to 1983 during the John Y. Brown Administration. His host of business and civic contributions includes board positions with the University of Louisville, Jewish Hospital, Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority, School Choice Scholarships, Thomas Merton Foundation, Belle of Louisville and the Cathedral Heritage Foundation. Fischer’s most recent achievement is the Family Community Clinic, which opened in 2010 in Louisville’s Butchertown neighborhood, a non-profit facility for the medically uninsured that is wholly staffed by volunteers from the medical profession and provides no-cost, quality primary healthcare services and wellness education to those in need.

Additionally Fischer is the recipient of numerous awards including the 1990 Inc. Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year, 1992 Junior Achievement Hall of Fame, 2001 Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, 2006 Governor’s Scholar Award, 2012 American Advertising Federation “Louisvillian of the Year” and 2012 Honorary Doctor of Public Service. He is married to Mary Lee Hardesty with whom he has five children, Lynn, Greg, Mark, Paul and Chris.

‘Dreams Take Flight’ was created to acknowledge and honor a select group of the area’s most acclaimed members of the medical community, as well as to spotlight and garner awareness for the amazing work of a number of exceptional Kentuckiana charities that Kosair Charities has proudly supported for over fifty years. The 2012 Gala will be held Saturday, October 13, with a reception at 5:00 p.m., followed by dinner and an awards program from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.