Ted Hamilton ’73-A led the class of 2026 as they recited the physician’s oath at the recent School of Medicine Conferring of Degrees Ceremony. After years of strong connections to the Alumni Association, Hamilton began his term as Alumni Association President at the 94th Annual Postgraduate Convention.

Hamilton has spent his career serving in leadership roles in many areas including hospitals, physician organizations, insurance, and public healthcare programs. A board-certified family physician, he’s passionate about both physician well-being and whole-person care. He is currently bringing his leadership skills to his role as Alumni Association president.

Hamilton’s presidency focuses on the theme: taking care of each other. He believes that caring for one another strengthens both the alumni community and the Association’s mission.

Among his many accomplishments, Hamilton is particularly proud of helping develop and implement a spiritual wholeness screening initiative that resulted in more than 100,000 patient spiritual care referrals over five years. He is author of The Healer: Peace, Prayers, and Promises, a devotional book for patients and their caregivers.

Recognized as an Honored Alumnus in 2014, Hamilton continues to be inspired by the Alumni Association’s rich history and mission, which is creating global impact

When he’s not serving others, you’ll likely find him tending his rose garden or reading a good book. He also enjoys spending time with family and teaching Scripture.

We look forward to the impact of his vision of “taking care of each other” in the year ahead.

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American Medical Missionary College (AMMC) graduates and John Harvey Kellogg, MD, president of AMMC (1985 to 1910), watched with interest as the College of Medical Evangelists (CME) was established and grew.

Not only did all 194 AMMC alumni become affiliate members of the Alumni Association, they were well represented at CME. Over four decades, one or more members from nine of the 12 AMMC graduating classes joined the CME faculty.

CME, chartered in 1909 in Loma Linda, California, has been called the “spiritual descendant” of AMMC.

Competing With Harvard

Early connections with AMMC alumni helped create a highly competitive medical program at Loma Linda.

Benton J. Colver, AMMC ’04, recalled that a prominent ENT specialist in Beverly Hills who offered Colver a position, said he had first heard of CME while he was a medical student at Harvard. At the time, both Harvard and CME required students to pass the examination of the National Board of Medical Examiners before being awarded their medical degree.

Colver recalled: “This physician explained, ‘At Harvard, we were always awaiting the publication of the results of each examination of the National Board to see whether a Harvard man or a CME man took first place.’”

The AMMC class of 1905 is pictured in the photo.

Photo courtesy of the department of archives and special collections, University Libraries, Loma Linda University.

The story of these graduates was told by Benton J. Colver, AMMC ’04, in the January 1949 issue of the ALUMNI JOURNAL, reprinted in this year’s Spring issue.

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Did you know that before the first School of Medicine class graduated in 1914, the Alumni Association’s earliest affiliate members had already completed their medical degrees?

These 194 affiliate members graduated from American Medical Missionary College (AMMC) between 1899 and 1910.

In the late 1800s, Adventist Church leaders including Daniel Kress, Abbie Winegar, David Paulson, Howard Rand, Charles E. Stewart, A. B. Olsen, and William A. George, began the work of establishing a new medical school to prepare physicians for missionary service.

Their dream was realized with the establishment of AMMC in 1895. AMMC would go on to graduate 194 students in 12 classes.

The medical program at AMMC was four years long, with preclinical training in Battle Creek, Michigan, and clinical training in Chicago. At the time, it was the only college dedicated exclusively to preparing physicians for missionary work, emphasizing both medical skill and Christian commitment.

AMMC offered free tuition to graduates who went on to serve in mission work. John Harvey Kellogg, MD, was president of AMMC from 1895 to 1910. Yes, he is the same Kellogg who, with his brother, invented Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.

In 1910, AMMC merged with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, which later became the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1913.

In the photo, the AMMC Class of 1902 is pictured in the Battle Creek Sanitarium Laboratory.

Photo courtesy of the department of archives and special collections, University Libraries, Loma Linda University

The story of these graduates was told by Benton J. Colver, AMMC ’04, in the January 1949 issue of the ALUMNI JOURNAL, reprinted in this year’s Spring issue.

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Congratulations to Jayda Burton ’26, who stopped by the Alumni Association office to pick up her Herber Award check, and congratulations to each recipient of the 2026 Alumni Association of Loma Linda University Herber Award.

This year’s awardees, all members of the class of 2026, are Drs. Jayda Burton, Patricia Carlson, Henry Hongo, Kelsey Johnson, Hannah Kim, Madeline Nichols, Liana Taffe, Jordan Whittles, and Stephanie Whittles.

We celebrate these new alumni who, during medical school, made significant contributions in areas including leadership, academic excellence, compassionate care, involvement in certificate programs, and mentoring underclassmen. Their legacy as students includes outstanding scholarship, leadership, and service to the San Bernardino community and the student body.

The Herber Awards are made possible by Drs. Ray Herber (’57) and Marilyn Herber (’58), along with other alumni who created a fund originally supporting women in medicine and now supporting all students.

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Students from Life Community Group 19 stopped by the Alumni Association recently. After learning about the free medical textbooks available at the Alumni Association, they visited and found helpful free books.

Life Communities began at the School of Medicine during the 2018–2019 school year. The Life Community Groups provide students with a supportive environment, foster a sense of belonging, and create meaningful mentoring relationships with faculty.

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Robert C. Hewes ’76-B, who celebrated his 50th class reunion this year, was introduced to his wife, Judi, during medical school by William Taylor ’47, chair of anatomy.

Hewes later spent many of his medical school electives in vascular surgery with Louis Smith ’49, who became his mentor. Hewes was impressed by radiologists performing angiography and recognized the potential of emerging procedures in radiology.

He was accepted into the radiology residency program at Loma Linda by Melvin Judkins ’47, the pioneer of selective coronary arteriography and developer of the Judkins catheter.

Hewes’s advice for students and young physicians is to remember, “Each new day is God-given. As you begin each day, turn to a new page with a clean slate; strive for new success and accomplishment, leaving the weight of past failures behind. God walks with us every day, leading us to new heights of godliness and taking daily steps toward heaven.”

Hewes lives in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is semi-retired, working PRN at AdventHealth Radiology in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

Read more in the Spring 2026 ALUMNI JOURNAL. Link in bio.

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While on a mission trip over 10,000 miles away from home Paul Cooper (’26), found connection, purpose, and strengthened faith.

While Cooper is from a missionary family and had spent his childhood overseas, "I was heading to a country I’d never set foot in before, without a single familiar face or any fellow medical students by my side. It felt like an unsettling amount of unfamiliarity,” he said.

Yet, during the next four weeks, Cooper assisted alumni Brent Sherwin ’15, chief of surgery at Malamulo Adventist Hospital, and Melissa Pender ’17, who specializes in internal medicine at the hospital. Highlights of his overseas rotation included hours in the operating room where he built clinical knowledge, procedural skills, and critical thinking. It was an incredible learning opportunity for a fourth-year medical student who is an aspiring anesthesiologist, he said.

He was inspired by the vital role Sherwin and Pender play in teaching Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) residents. “They not only bring healing to patients directly,” he said, “they also create a much larger network of impact through their teaching and mentoring. By training the next generation of African surgeons, they touch the lives of thousands more and are creating a system of high-quality health care that is sustainable far beyond Malamulo.”

This approach reminds Cooper of the work Christ did with His disciples. Jesus said: “Feed my sheep.” It was the disciples` responsibility to pay it forward. "I like to think that all of us in medicine have realized this call, even if it may be in different capacities for each one of us,” Cooper said.

Cooper was born in Kenya to missionary parents working for ADRA. His father had a similar upbringing, born to his grandparents serving as missionaries in India. Cooper spent his childhood throughout Asia and Africa and then returned to the U.S. to attend Southern Adventist University. He went on to spend a gap year doing student missions in Palau before starting medical school. After graduation, he will enter his anesthesiology residency at Loma Linda.

Experiences such as this are made possible by support provided by the Alumni Association.

April is National Minority Health Month; a time to reflect, but more importantly, a time to act. Thank you to Stephen Dwumfour (’26), who shares his thoughts in this essay:

Health, as we all know, is invaluable. Its importance cannot be overstated. You can have all the wealth in the world, but when faced with a terminal illness, that wealth quickly loses its meaning. This reality challenges us to think deeper about how we, as health care providers and community members, show up for those we serve. How are we actively navigating a society where a person’s zip code remains one of the strongest predictors of their health outcomes? How are we addressing a system where many patients lack awareness of their own health, often eating what is accessible rather than what is balanced, either due to limited means or lack of knowledge about available resources?

Every patient encounter is an opportunity. An opportunity to educate, to empower, and to illuminate resources that are often free yet underutilized. These moments matter.

Institutions like Loma Linda University exemplify what it means to integrate the social determinants of health into both education and practice. Awareness is only the beginning. Experiential knowledge alone is not the destination, but rather, it must be translated into intentional, everyday action in our patient care.

Let us all strive to be more than clinicians. Let us be advocates, collaborators, and guiding hands for our patients. Let us help them navigate what is available, empower them with knowledge, and commit to delivering true, whole person care.

Because improving minority health is not just a monthly focus but rather a lifelong responsibility.

Stephen Dwumfour (’26) is vice president of AI-HEAL Club, LLU School of Medicine . In the photo, Dwumfour pauses by the “This is the Very Place” sculpture on the Loma Linda campus. The sculpture recalls the moment Ellen White visited Loma Linda on June 12, 1905, and recognized it as the location she had seen in a vision.

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David Bailey ’92 stopped by the Alumni Association and spent time connecting with our team. During his visit he paused to point out a photo of someone meaningful to him personally, his uncle, Leonard Bailey ’69.

D. Bailey, who specialized in pediatrics, is now enjoying lavender and bee farming.

We always appreciate it when alumni take the time to visit and to learn more about their Alumni Association.

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Zeno L. Charles-Marcel ’80-AFF is director of health ministries for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (2025–2030).

Under Charles-Marcel’s leadership, the Church’s health and healthcare ministries are advanced, and institutions are strengthened around the world.

A lifestyle medicine specialist, Charles-Marcel co-founded the first academic Lifestyle Medicine Fellowship in the U.S. He is a former medical director of Lifestyle Center of America.

After completing his internal medicine residency at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Charles-Marcel chose a path of service and leadership.

He has provided care in mission and medical relief sites in India, the Middle East, and Latin America, and held leadership roles in U.S. government systems, mission hospitals, lifestyle centers, and academic programs.

In addition to Loma Linda University (LLU), he studied at McGill University, Howard University College of Medicine, and University of Arizona, with a focus on leadership and health diplomacy. During his career, he has served as adjunct faculty at multiple universities and is a former dean of health sciences at Montemorelos University.

He is a member of the LLUH Board of Trustees and is an adjunct associate professor at LLU School of Medicine.

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Since 2004, the Iner Sheld-Ritchie Presidential Award has been given to honor individuals who have shown commitment to the vision and mission of the Alumni Association. Who was Iner Sheld-Ritchie ’15, and what was his connection to the Alumni Association?

In 1920, when 18 physicians had completed their medical training at CME, he urged: “With the present number of graduates, we feel that we have now come to the time when we can organize into a successful alumni association. Not after a worldly order, nor for a selfish purpose, but a definite, high and holy cause, even that of our Master.”

The alumni were in agreement and the Association was formalized in 1923 and was incorporated in 1932.

In 1920, he began teaching anatomy at CME. He then practiced medicine in Calexico, establishing the city’s first hospital.

He went on to complete extensive medical missionary work in Mexico. He also helped establish an Adventist hospital in the late 1940s that became part of Montemorelos University’s Medical School in 1974. He was a founder of Liga, which provided health care in Mexico. 

Sheld-Ritchie was born Oct. 6, 1885, in Sweden and moved with his family to California when he was a toddler. His mother died three years later, and he and his two brothers were placed in an orphanage after their father remarried.

The boys became farm hands in Chino, sleeping in a barn. At 17 he began working on a ranch near Corona, completing elementary and high school at home.

Connections made when he began purchasing beekeeping supplies from William and Lula Ritchie led to life changes for him. He adopted the couples’ Adventist faith and accepted their invitation to take their last name (he was in his early 20s then, too old to be adopted). He later married their adopted daughter, Inelda.

In 1920, he was convinced that the medical alumni would grow to thousands who would help prepare the world for Christ’s return. It is fitting that Sheld-Ritchie, who lived a life of service and confidently urged our earliest alumni to move forward to form the Alumni Association, is remembered with the award created in his name.

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