Alumni Awards
Richard D. Wood Distinguished Alumni Award
Each year, the Richard D. Wood Distinguished Alumni Award is presented to an alumnus with significant medical and scientific achievements that distinguish the alumnus from their peers. The Distinguished Alumni Award at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is named for Richard D. Wood, Sr., who served as a member of CHOP’s Board of Trustees for 45 years.
The Wood family’s commitment to the health and well-being of children began with CHOP’s founding in 1855 as the nation’s first children’s hospital. Dr. George Bacon Wood was among the signers of CHOP’s articles of incorporation, and a Wood family member has been involved with the hospital ever since that time.
Richard D. Wood, Sr. served as CHOP’s first president and joined the Board of Trustees in 1950 – playing a key role in the Hospital’s development, including leading the projected to move CHOP from its original South Philadelphia location to its current location in West Philadelphia. Today, Richard D. Wood, Jr. is an Emeritus Trustee and carries forth the Wood family’s commitment to the health and well-being of children, including establishing the Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment in 2021.
Patrick S. Pasquariello Jr. Service Award
The Patrick S. Pasquariello Jr. Service Award was introduced in 2023 to recognize a past or present faculty member who has served the CHOP and Philadelphia community with great distinction over their career. This award celebrates a colleague who has devoted their career to the betterment of the Hospital and the children it serves.
Patrick S. Pasquariello Jr., known to many as Dr. Pat, served the Philadelphia community at CHOP for more than 50 years. He committed the entirety of his career to CHOP’s patients, parents, and physicians-in-training, beginning his tenure in 1961 as an intern and joining the staff the following year. He held many positions of leadership at CHOP, including the director of CHOP’s Main Campus primary care practice, director of the Office of Continuing Education, interim Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics, and director of both the Spina Bifida program and the Diagnostic and Complex Care Center. The Diagnostic and Complex Care Center was renamed in his honor in 2009.
The Pasquariello family has had a continued impact on CHOP for many decades. His wife, May Agnes, was a dedicated volunteer at CHOP for over 50 years. Their daughter Caroline is an Attending Anesthesiologist in CHOP’s Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, and their granddaughter Julia is a Clinical Nurse in the Emergency Department.
Patrick S. Pasquariello Jr., MD is the recipient of the inaugural Patrick S. Pasquariello Jr. Service Award.