Regina Benjamin - Awards

Awards

In 1998, she was the United States recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights.

Benjamin was named by TIME magazine as one of the "Nation's 50 Future Leaders Age 40 and Under." She was featured in a New York Times article, "Angel in a White Coat," and was chosen "Person of the Week" by ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, "Woman of the Year" by CBS This Morning, and "Woman of the Year" by People Magazine. She was also featured on the December 1999 cover of Clarity Magazine and received the 2000 National Caring Award, which was inspired by Mother Teresa.

In 2006, she was awarded the papal cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope Benedict XVI.

In 2008, Benjamin was named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. In September 2008, she was one of that year's class of 25 in the MacArthur Fellows Program, nicknamed the "Genius Awards," receiving a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that would have been worth $500,000 over the course of five years. However, as a federal employee, she had to stop accepting the MacArthur Fellows stipend when she accepted the position as Surgeon General.

In 2009, she received the American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award.

In 2010, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Dartmouth College at its Commencement ceremony.

On May 8, 2010, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctorate of Pharmacy from the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at the college's 130th Commencement ceremony held at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York.

On May 28, 2011, she received an honorary degree of Doctorate of Humane Letters from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, after which she delivered the address for the school's 205th commencement.

On May 18, 2012, she received an honorary degree of Doctorate of Science from the University of Rochester Medical Center's School of Medicine and Dentistry. She also delivered the commencement address.