Randall Wagner ('80)
College of Science and Mathematics Outstanding Alumni 2012
Dr. Randall Wagner is the recipient of the 2012 College of Science and
Mathematics alumni award. Dr. Wagner graduated from WSU's Department of
Physics with a BS Honors' degree in 1980.
He received a scholarship from the department,
was elected to the physics honor society and had published a
research article with a faculty based on his undergraduate research work.
Dr. Wagner earned an MD at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine in 1984
and stayed at Vanderbilt an additional 3 years as a resident in
Internal Medicine. His wife, Debra Benator, and he then took a
gap year to volunteer in a ``bush hospital'' in Western Province of Kenya
where they served as Medical Directors. Upon their return to the US,
Dr. Wagner spent four years at Boston University as a Fellow in Pulmonary
Diseases and Critical Care Medicine. These were very productive research
years resulting in three book chapters and five of his nine peer review
publications. He then became a research fellow in the Laboratory of
Immunology at the National Institutes of Health. He joined the faculty at
George Washington University School of Medicine in 1995. As an Assistant
Professor, he was largely involved in patient care, teaching, and clinical
research. He had a number of Directorships, (Intermediate Care Unit,
Department of Respiratory Care, and Co-Director of the Intensive Care Unit)
and was Co-Investigator on 8 clinical trials. In 1999, Dr. Wagner left
academics and joined a practice as an Intensivist at the Washington Adventist
Hospital. In the past ten years, he has become involved in the medical
leadership at the Washington Adventist Hospital where he has served on a
number of committees. In 2007, he became the first Chairman of a newly
formed Department of Critical Care Medicine, and he was given the
Physician RISES award for 2008.
Dr. Lok C. Lew Yan Voon, chair of the Department of Physics,
welcomes how the CoSM Outstanding Alumni Award celebrates the success
Dr. Wagner has seen in his career. When asked about the award
Dr. Lew Yan Voon replied, "We genuinely appreciate Dr. Wagner's on-going
engagement with the department. His success is born from his professional
talents so this recognition from the college is perfectly timed.
Additionally he is a very likeable person and has always made a point to
reflect on how the scholarship he received as a student changed his life."
