Alumni Association, School of Medicine of Loma Linda University

Alumni Association, School of Medicine of Loma Linda University Although it was officially incorporated in 1932, the Alumni Association started when alumni gathered informally in 1917.

The Alumni Association, School of Medicine of Loma Linda University is a nonprofit organization composed of both alumni and affiliate members, organized to support the School, to promote excellence in world-wide health care, and to serve its members. Learn more about our history on our website at www.llusmaa.org/history.

We celebrate Women in Medicine Month and the amazing work our women physicians do around the globe. Vanessa Miller ’96, ...
09/04/2026

We celebrate Women in Medicine Month and the amazing work our women physicians do around the globe.

Vanessa Miller ’96, for example. Miller is the only full-time OB-GYN specialist at Guam Seventh-day Adventist Clinic in Tamuning, where she provides care on one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world.

For women facing high-risk pregnancies or cancer, Guam’s geographic isolation makes access to specialized care challenging. Even with the availability of temporary relief, “The clinic’s capacity is much more than one permanent OB-GYN physician can provide,” she said. In addition to a full schedule, at least one patient each week requires complex gynecologic care.

Working in Guam Adventist Clinic, Miller has experienced some of the greatest fulfillment of her career. She also appreciates the island’s beauty, which reminds her of her childhood home in the Bahamas.

Miller’s service extends far beyond Guam. She has practiced women’s health medicine in the U.S. and the Bahamas, and has served on medical mission trips to Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico. She also sponsored 20 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to attend a Seventh-day Adventist secondary school in Rwanda.

Her dream is to one day establish a lifestyle center offering disease prevention and treatment, continuing Christ’s healing ministry through education and compassionate care.

In this photo, Miller is filming a segment on HPV prevention for a local education campaign at the Clinic’s Women’s Health Offices.



Miller pauses atop Fort Soledad, a historic site overlooking the village of Humatak (Umatac) and the bay where Magellan landed on Guam.

Vanessa Miller ’96, is the only full-time OB-GYN specialist at Guam Seventh-Day Adventist clinic in Tamuning.

September is Women in Medicine Month when the leadership and lasting contributions of women physicians are honored. One ...
09/03/2026

September is Women in Medicine Month when the leadership and lasting contributions of women physicians are honored. One of the School of Medicine’s earliest women graduates, Olive Smith, class of 1915 forged a remarkable medical career.

Smith was a member of the College of Medical Evangelists’ (now Loma Linda University) second graduating class. She became Loma Linda University’s first physician alumni to serve the Seventh-day Adventist Church in an overseas mission appointment. She traveled to Chuharkana, India (now Pakistan), where she was assigned to care for women and children. When the hospital director left on furlough, Smith was entrusted with leadership of the entire medical facility.

She later served in Bangalore and Vellore, India, before retiring and returning to Loma Linda. She lived on Prospect Avenue until her death on April 28, 1946.

Recently, a personal connection to Smith found its way to the Alumni Association.

At an estate sale, Michael Boyko SD’75, assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the School of Dentistry, discovered a piece of ephemera that caught his attention: a diploma bearing the original wax seal of the College of Medical Evangelists, now Loma Linda University.

The diploma had belonged to Olive Smith. As Boyko examined the document, he was fascinated by the signatures of Drs. Newton Evans, Edward Risley, John Burden, and Alfred Shryock, whose names would later be honored on buildings across the Loma Linda campus.

Boyko acquired the diploma, and more than 100 years after it was awarded to Smith, it was donated to the Alumni Association.

One additional detail stands out: the diploma measures 18 inches wide by 14 inches tall, making it far too large to fit in a modern diploma holder.

On August 12, at 8:30 p.m. local time, a group of alumni, spouses, family, and friends experienced the total solar eclip...
09/01/2026

On August 12, at 8:30 p.m. local time, a group of alumni, spouses, family, and friends experienced the total solar eclipse off the coast of the island of Mallorca, Spain.

The idea for the journey began with a conversation during the Alumni Association’s lifetime experience trip to Norway in 2024. During the cruise, a few alumni from the class of ’86 began talking about traveling together to witness the eclipse. Word spread through email, mail, and during 2025 and 2026 class reunions.

From the deck of a cruise ship, the group watched the moon cover the sun, revealing its luminous corona against a darkened sky. “It was breathtaking to witness the total solar eclipse,” said Marilene Wang ’86. “It was an unforgettable experience.”

Twenty-nine alumni experienced the eclipse together: 20 classmates from the class of ’86, six from the class of ‘84, two from the class of ’74, and one from the class of ’91, along with spouses, family members, and friends.

Eclipse notes: The path of the solar eclipse totality crossed northern Spain. A partial eclipse was visible across parts of the U.S. and Canada, much of Europe, and northwestern Africa. The eclipse was Spain’s first total solar eclipse since 1905. It was the first total eclipse visible from central and western Europe since 1999.

Leah Tudtud-Hans, MD-Fac, associate professor of medicine at the School of Medicine received, the 2026 Whole Person Care...
08/28/2026

Leah Tudtud-Hans, MD-Fac, associate professor of medicine at the School of Medicine received, the 2026 Whole Person Care Legacy Award at the Gold Humanism Reception. While accepting the award, she provided insight into the meaning of wholeness.

She said that wholeness is at the heart of healing, and that whole-person care goes beyond treating a diagnosis. “In the Gospels, healing was never limited to treating disease alone. It included compassion, presence, dignity, and restoration of the whole person to seeing the person behind it and responding with compassion, dignity, attentiveness, and presence.”

“Yet, as physicians,” she emphasized, “we must also care for ourselves and intentionally seek wholeness. ‘Physician, heal thyself’ is a necessary discipline. We provide whole person care best when we ourselves are whole.”

She acknowledged that at Loma Linda, whole person care is more than a mission statement; it is a calling to continue Christ’s teaching and healing ministry. She expressed her gratitude for being part of a community that integrates faith, service, and scientific excellence in providing patient care.

In addition to her faculty appointment, Tudtud-Hans is an internal medicine hospitalist at Loma Linda University Medical Center and serves as associate chair of continuing medical education for the department of internal medicine. She has been a part of LLUH for more than 30 years.

read the full story in the summer 2026 ALUMNI JOURNAL. Link in Bio.

A new library is opening doors to opportunity for hundreds of children in a rural Maasai village in Tanzania, made possi...
08/26/2026

A new library is opening doors to opportunity for hundreds of children in a rural Maasai village in Tanzania, made possible by Briana Greene ’23.

Through her nonprofit, Hearts 2 Hands, Greene created Lendikinya Children’s Library in Monduli, Tanzania. The library is an educational center for more than 800 students at the local primary school and for families in the community.

At the library there are spaces to read, study, create, explore science and music, and access computers and the internet. More than 4,000 pounds of books were collected through donations and traveled 8,000 miles from the United States to fill its shelves.

The library, which opened its doors on July 17, is a daily resource for the community, with a permanent librarian.

Hearts 2 Hands is a partner mission organization of the Alumni Association.

Read more in the Summer 2026 ALUMNI JOURNAL.

Loma Linda University medical student Stephen Dwumfour ’26, co-founded AI-HEAL (Artificial Intelligence for Health, Educ...
08/25/2026

Loma Linda University medical student Stephen Dwumfour ’26, co-founded AI-HEAL (Artificial Intelligence for Health, Education, Advocacy, and Leadership), a university-wide club.

Since its creation in April, 2025, AI-HEAL membership has grown to more than 100 students from Loma Linda’s schools who are collaborating to discuss and learn more about the place AI can have in healthcare.

With mentorship from Christopher G. Wilson, PhD-FAC, and Fred Armstrong, education technology services director of learning innovation, AI-HEAL has organized numerous educational and networking events, including Artificial Intelligence for Health, Education, Advocacy and Leadership seminars; The Fall 2025 AI Symposium; faculty presentations and panel discussions; interactive workshops; and educational sessions on emerging AI technologies.

Read the full story in the Summer 2026 ALUMNI JOURNAL. Link in bio.

08/21/2026

Out Now: The Summer 2026 ALUMNI JOURNAL. This issue highlights the newest alumni, the class of 2026, and expressions of gratitude throughout the pages. We hope this issue rekindles nostalgia and gratitude for your time at Loma Linda and the relationships you formed there.

https://www.llusmaa.org/page/alumni-journal

The Alumni Association staff greatly appreciates our 36 summer volunteers, who collectively contributed 600 hours. Volun...
08/20/2026

The Alumni Association staff greatly appreciates our 36 summer volunteers, who collectively contributed 600 hours. Volunteers scanned photos and slides, updated almost all the alumni profiles with graduation photos, and did many other helpful tasks. Thank you, summer volunteers.

Clarence S. Ing ’31, an anesthesiologist, and Isabel Ing ‘50, who specialized in family medicine, are remembered for an ...
08/18/2026

Clarence S. Ing ’31, an anesthesiologist, and Isabel Ing ‘50, who specialized in family medicine, are remembered for an aviation first.

On August 26, 1959, during a flight from London to New York, they delivered twins. The event was significant as it showed that babies could be safely delivered in flight, knowledge helpful to future medical evacuations and for in-flight medical care. Dr. Clarence Ing entered medical school just 14 years after the world’s first commercial flight.

In-flight births are rare. A study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine reports that fewer than one infant a year was born in-flight during the 89 years from 1929 to 2018.

The photo of the Pan American Airways pilot and stewardesses who were on the flight is from Dr. Ing’s personal photo collection.

Source: “Here and There With Alumni,” ALUMNI JOURNAL, October 1959, Vol. 30, No. 10.

Hygge (who-guh) noun • Danish Creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying good things in life with good people. Ted Hamilton...
08/13/2026

Hygge (who-guh) noun • Danish

Creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying good things in life with good people.

Ted Hamilton ‘73-A, president, treated the Alumni Association employees to a staff appreciation getaway in Solvang, California, to thank them for the work they do. The time together provided the opportunity to connect and get to know each other better.

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