Dr. Garth N. Graham (left) and Frank Ramos will be receiving 2008 Torch Awards

MIAMI (February 22, 2008)- The annual Florida International University Torch Awards Gala honors distinguished alumni for their positive impact on their profession, the community and the university. Dr. Garth N. Graham, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, will be receiving the 2008 Honors College Distinguished Alumni Award.  Honors College alumnus Frank Ramos, a partner at Clarke Silverglate & Campbell, P.A. and an Honors Community Advisory Board member, has been selected by the Torch Awards Committee as the recipient of the Charles E. Perry Young Alumni Visionary Award.  The gala dinner will be held on Saturday, March 8, 2008 in the Graham Center Ballrooms.  

Dr. Garth Graham, founder of the Boston Men’s Cardiovascular Health Project, serves as a faculty member of Harvard Medical School, where he trained in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and serves as a visiting scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health.  He has authored scientific articles and presentations on cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS and community medicine.

Dr. Graham has received numerous accolades for his leadership and service in promoting health, including the 2002 American Medical Association Leadership Award, the Partners in Excellence Award, and the Miriam Kathleen Dasey Award from Yale Medical School.  The Business Network Journal also named him one of the "Forty Leaders Under Forty."

Frank Ramos received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Florida International University, summa cum laude, in 1993 and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law, magna cum laude, in 1997. In addition to authoring multiple articles and books, Ramos served as the Editor-in-Chief of CABA Briefs, Editor of The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Historical Society magazine, and was named a Trend Florida Legal Elite "Up and Coming Attorney."  

Ramos, a certified Circuit and County Court Mediator, handles a variety of litigation matters in the state and federal courts throughout Florida, including complex commercial disputes, product liability, medical malpractice, and general personal injury and special education issues.

For immediate release

CONTACT:    Juan Carlos Espinosa, The Honors College
(305-348 -4100), espinosj@fiu.edu