The 2026 First Decade Award recipient is Samantha Banks ’15, an Autoimmune Neurology Fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. She received her medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine in Nebraska. She specializes in neuroimmunology and multiple sclerosis, and she conducts research on multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune neurologic conditions.
First presented in 1968, the First Decade Award was established to recognize an individual for early professional achievement by graduates of the 10th anniversary class. Criteria appropriate to selection shall include the difficulty of accomplishment; quality, creativity, and distinctiveness of performance; recognition by professional peers; and lasting contribution to the world of ideas and affairs.
Nominations for the 2026 First Decade Award and other alumni awards are welcome until Dec. 15, 2025.
