INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.— Indiana University Indianapolis will honor three alumni with the Maynard K. Hine Award on Thursday, November 14, 2024 in Indianapolis.
The 2024 recipients are Dr. Jeffrey Dean, Danita Forgey, and Dr. Yousuf Mahomed.
The Hine Award, given annually since 1974, is named for the first chancellor of the Indiana University Indianapolis campus. Maynard K. Hine maintained that a strong alumni program was essential for the university. Recipients will receive a bronze medal engraved with Hine’s profile.
The following are brief bios of each recipient:
Dr. Jeffrey Dean, DDS’86, MS’85, is the Indiana University McDonald Professor of Pediatric Dentistry and Professor of Orthodontics. He has served the University as a hospital residency program director, department chair, executive associate dean, and the chancellor’s chief of staff and senior advisor. According to Dean, two of his most interesting jobs on campus include working as a part-time frozen blood lab worker in Fesler Hall and the time he dug a patient’s car out of snow in the school’s parking lot as a faculty member.
Dr. Dean has been a strong supporter of Indiana University as an active member of the board of directors for the School of Dentistry Alumni Association, as well as both the Orthodontic and the Pediatric Dentistry Alumni Associations.
Dr. Dean’s commitment to Indiana University goes beyond dentistry, as some of his favorite past contributions to the Indianapolis campus, students, and alums include his time as an advisory board member of the campus Music Academy, faculty advisor to the undergraduate student Rotary Club (“Rotaract”), participation on the Athletic Department’s “J Club”, longtime contributor and volunteer on the campus United Way Campaign, and other activities.
Danita Forgey, BS’81, MIS’01, is a faculty member and researcher at the Indiana University Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, with a background in healthcare classification and reimbursement systems, Forgey is known for her innovative teaching methods and commitment to fostering an inclusive learning environment for students.
Forgey was a lecturer in Health Information Management in the School of Allied Health Sciences before becoming program director in 2000. She led efforts to move Health Information Management to the School of Informatics in 2002 and served as program director until 2008.
At the Luddy School, Forgey has served as a mentor, Advisory Board Member, and on-going presenter. She has always encouraged students and alumni to stay in touch with the program and the profession after graduation. Forgey established the largest legacy gift in Luddy Indianapolis’ School history, contributing to three different scholarships in the Health Information Management Program and to the School of Informatics and Computing Fund.
Forgey also currently operates Danita Forgey Consulting and provides clients with coding and health information services.
Dr. Yousuf Mahomed, Res’81, MBA’15, is a cardiothoracic surgeon and professor emeritus of surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Mahomed is renowned for his contributions to medical education and patient care and an expert in managing complex cardiac conditions and his commitment to holistic patient approaches.
For more than 40 years, Dr. Mahomed served as a professor of surgery and faculty member at the Indiana University School of Medicine, where he was one of two principal members of the cardiac surgical team that started the cardiac transplant program and, a nationally recognized early pioneer in minimally invasive cardiac surgery, arrhythmia surgery and beating heart surgery. He trained several generations of cardiothoracic surgical residents and mentored medical students, many of whom are now leaders in their medical fields.
Dr. Mahomed is also a graduate of the Kelley School Physician Program. He led the partnership between the Kelley School of Business and the American Association of Physician Leadership (AAPL). He brought the Kelley School of Business and the IU School of Medicine’s deans’ offices together to develop scholarly concentration in business and assisted in reinvigorating the MD-MBA program for medical students. As a result, IU’s Physician MBA program is nationally renowned.
Dr. Mahomed is co-founder and CEO of Mahomed Sales & Warehousing, a manufacturing supply chain integrator in Indiana.