School of Medicine honored with 2026 MAA Gold Standard Awards

Members of the University of Missouri School of Medicine community were recently honored in Mizzou Alumni Association’s (MAA) Gold Standard Awards. Each year, MAA celebrates the remarkable alumni, faculty, friends and families whose dedication, service and leadership have made their mark at Mizzou.

Distinguished Faculty Award

Ramesh Khanna, MD, director of the Karl D. Nolph, MD, Division of Nephrology and professor in the Department of Medicine

Established in 1960, this award honors an outstanding member of the Mizzou faculty whose continued achievements have brought distinction to the honoree and the university. It’s awarded based on the total accomplishments of the faculty member, with special emphasis on the faculty member’s relationship with students.

Dr. Khanna has served as a full-time faculty member in the Mizzou School of Medicine in 1983. He has currently served as the director of the Karl D. Nolph, MD, Division of Nephrology in the Department of Medicine for more than two decades.

At the national and international level, Dr. Khanna is recognized as a pioneer and architect of modern peritoneal dialysis. His patented contributions to PD catheter technology, his co-development of the Peritoneal Equilibration Test; now the global standard for assessing dialysis efficacy, and his decades of scholarship have fundamentally shaped how kidney disease is treated worldwide.

Learn more about Dr. Khanna’s contributions to Mizzou

Legacy Family Award

Dr. Thomas and Mary Ashley Family

This award honors a family who has made an outstanding impact on Mizzou over multiple generations of Tigers. The members of this family must have a sustained, demonstrable history of loyalty, support and service to Mizzou, their community and their profession to be considered.

Dr. Thomas Ashley and Mary Ashley had nine of their 10 children attend Mizzou, along with many of their spouses and children. For 37 years, Dr. Ashley served on Mizzou’s Medical School Foundation Board, including serving as president, helping strengthen support for medical education, research and innovation.

In 1975, he was honored with the Medical Alumni Service Award and in 1985 he received the School of Medicine’s Distinguished Service Award.

The Ashley Family established Mizzou’s Thomas E. and Mary M. Ashley Memorial Endowment for Medication, as well as the Cindy Ashley Endowment in Genetic Research, created in memory of their daughter Cynthia.

Learn more about The Ashley Family’s contributions to Mizzou