UMB and the UMB Foundation celebrate the Distinguished Service Award recipients and Catalysts for Excellence, honoring four charity-minded clans and other philanthropists who support the University.
Photo: From left, Judy Postmus, Mark Gladwin, Renée Hutchins Laurent, Wende Attman Levitas, Michael Levitas, Phyllis Attman, Leonard Attman, Thomas Scalea, and Bruce Jarrell. (Photos by Matthew D’Agostino)
Matriarchs and patriarchs. Wives and husbands. Mothers and daughters. Fathers and sons. Sisters and brothers. Philanthropists all.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) 2025 “Celebrating Excellence: Honoring Service, Philanthropy, and Volunteerism” on April 22 at the M&T Bank Exchange had a family reunion feel to it, as four Baltimore-area families were among the honorees recognized for their philanthropic efforts.
“We are honoring special people and families that support the University, as well as acknowledging the generosity of many of you here in this room,” UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, said in his opening remarks to the crowd of 150-plus. “They are extraordinary volunteers, long-term supporters, loyal philanthropists, alumni, and faculty members. Thank you for helping us to fulfill UMB’s mission to improve the human condition and serve the public good.
“I’m very grateful for your service, and I’m sure that all of the UMB deans and leaders who are here tonight share that sentiment,” added Jarrell, who noted that the UMB Foundation (UMBF) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. “We appreciate the foundation’s commitment to excellence. UMBF is an essential partner to the University and our philanthropic endeavors.”
The Attman and Levitas families, as well as the Erin Levitas Foundation, received the night’s biggest honor, the UMBF Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes the outstanding achievements of volunteers who have substantially contributed to enhancing and sustaining UMB.
(Photo, left: From left, Gary Attman, Patricia Attman, and Sarah Attman)
Leonard and Phyllis Attman were on hand to accept the crystal plaque along with their nephew, Gary Attman, JD ’79, and his wife, Patricia Attman, MD, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), plus Wende Attman Levitas, and her husband, Michael Levitas, who launched the Erin Levitas Foundation in June 2017. The foundation honors the memory of the Levitases’ daughter, who was poised to begin studies at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law but died of cancer in 2016.
Wende and Michael Levitas and Wende’s parents, Leonard and Phyllis Attman, were involved in the Erin Levitas Foundation’s decision to make a transformational commitment to endow the Erin Levitas Initiative for Sexual Assault Prevention, a unique program within the law school’s Center for Dispute Resolution, and have supported the initiative while the endowment grows.
Jarell lauded the two families and Erin Levitas Foundation and was joined onstage by Renée Hutchins Laurent, JD; Mark T. Gladwin, MD; and Judy L. Postmus, PhD, ASCW, deans of the University of Maryland Schools of Law, Medicine, and Social Work, respectively, who nominated the families and foundation for the Distinguished Service Award.
“The Attman name is quite famous in Baltimore, especially for anybody who likes delicatessen food, but the family expertise extends well beyond that great legacy,” Jarrell said. “They strengthen our University through their leadership and philanthropy, and their influence spans generations, from business leadership to academic contributions to philanthropic giving. Their support touches multiple UMB schools and initiatives, helping to advance medical care, innovation, legal education and advocacy, trauma research, and community health programs.”
(Read more about the Distinguished Service Award recipients.)
Providing ‘Passion, Presence, and Direction’
The night’s other honorees received Catalyst for Excellence Awards from the seven UMB schools and the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), which was honoring its inaugural Catalyst for Excellence recipient.
UMMC maintained the family theme by selecting the Stoler family, whose donations provided the cornerstone to begin building the Roslyn and Leonard Stoler Center for Advanced Medicine, which is scheduled to open at UMMC in 2026. The state-of-the-art facility is expected to launch a new era of cancer care and research in the region and spark the next generation of care at the Medical Center.
“Roslyn and Leonard, as leaders of the Stoler family, have contributed over 25 years of service, volunteerism, and philanthropy to the medical center, with a special emphasis on fighting cancer,” said Bert W. O’Malley, MD, president and CEO of UMMC. “Not only have they generously donated money, they also have provided passion, presence, and direction to the Medical Center. They have been an incredible family and instrumental in helping us transform cancer care.”
O’Malley noted that Roslyn and Leonard’s son, Barry, and his wife, Lisa, also are now “carrying the torch of philanthropy,” with Barry Stoler chairing the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) Board of Advisors. (Roslyn Stoler is an emeritus member of the board.) “The Stoler family’s support will impact cancer care in the state of Maryland for generations to come,” O’Malley said.
The Stolers were unable to attend the ceremony. Kevin J. Cullen, MD, former director of UMGCCC, accepted the award on the family’s behalf.
Photo above: From left, Mario VillaSanta, Marguerite VillaSanta, and Mark Gladwin
Forty Years of Generosity
A family with deep roots at UMSOM was honored with that school’s Catalyst for Excellence Award. The Marino/VillaSanta family’s connections date back over 110 years to Frank C. Marino, MD, who graduated from the medical school at age 21 in 1916. His son-in-law, Umberto VillaSanta, MD, was director of gynecological oncology at UMSOM from 1962 to 1987, and his grandson, Mario VillaSanta, joined the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center Board of Visitors in 2024.
“For more than four decades, the VillaSanta family has given generously to strengthen medical education, research, and patient care through the Frank C. Marino Foundation,” Gladwin said. “In 2016, they established the Umberto VillaSanta, MD Scholarship Endowment, providing critical financial support for future physicians. And, most recently, Frank Marino’s daughter, Marguerite VillaSanta, at 94 years young, has ensured that her family’s impact will continue for generations by creating the Dr. Umberto and Marguerite VillaSanta Gynecological Surgeon Professorship — advancing the fields of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences.”
Marguerite VillaSanta was on hand to accept the award with her son, Mario, and other family members, drawing applause from the crowd and praise from Gladwin, who recounted a recent visit to her estate and said with a laugh about her vitality at 94: “We need to study her genome.” To which she replied, “The 90s are nice.”
(Photo, right: From left, Renée Hutchins Laurent, Darrell Braman, and Bruce Jarrell)
The other Catalyst for Excellence Award winners included four UMB alums and one faculty member:
- Robert E. Deery, DDS ’73, University of Maryland School of Dentistry
- James F. Cawley, MPH, PA-C, University of Maryland School of Graduate Studies
- Darrell Braman, JD ’88, Maryland Carey Law
- James Melonas, MBA, University of Maryland School of Nursing
- Ellen H. Yankellow, PharmD ’96, BSP ’73, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
- Katherine O’Donovan, MSW ’81, MA, University of Maryland School of Social Work
(Read more about all of the Catalyst for Excellence Award winners.)
Notable attendees included Jay A. Perman, MD, chancellor, University System of Maryland (USM), and former president, UMB; Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, president and CEO, University of Maryland Medical System; Thomas Scalea, MD, professor and director, Program in Trauma, UMSOM, and physician-in-chief, Shock Trauma; and William T. “Bill” Wood, JD ’66, member, USM Board of Regents.
Jarrell closed the event by thanking the event sponsors, UMMC and Wexford Science and Technology, as well as the award winners for “being great friends of the University,” adding that UMB is “grateful for your commitment to service and dedication to expanding and amplifying UMB’s impact in Maryland and beyond.”