Pittsburgh, May 6, 2025 -- Joseph C. Maroon, MD, Heindl Scholar in Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and renowned sports and health medicine expert, will be honored as an Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipient this Saturday, May 10 at a special black-tie gala in Ellis Island's Great Hall in New York. The award, officially recognized by both Houses of Congress as one of our nation’s most prestigious awards, celebrates “Americans who are selflessly working for the betterment of our country and its citizens.”
Presented by New York’s Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) since 1986, the award “commemorates the indefatigable spirit of those who immigrated to the United States during the Ellis Island era. The Medal is presented annually to those who have shown an outstanding commitment to serving our nation either professionally, culturally or civically.”
In informing Dr. Maroon of his award this past fall, EIHS chair Nasser J. Kazeminy noted, “your work in brain trauma, including the development of the ImPACT test, has transformed football and other contact sports, and saved countless athletes from irreversible mental, physical, and psychological damage. Your pioneering work in longevity medicine, prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson's diseases has helped improve health outcomes for an entire generation of Americans.”
EIHS "heralds the importance of immigration to America’s prosperity and celebrates the contributions immigrants and their progeny have made to our nation. The society was founded on the conviction that the diversity of the American people is what makes this nation great. EIHS honors the contributions made by immigrants and their descendants throughout American history."
Past recipients of the award include Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden; Supreme Court justices William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O’Connor; Nobel Prize laureates Elie Wiesel and Malala Yousafzai; philanthropists David and Susan Rockefeller; sports icon Muhammad Ali; and countless other “leaders of industry, education, the arts, sports and government. All whom have made freedom, liberty and compassion a part of their life's work.”