2025 Alumni Award Recipients
Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences announces this year’s Alumni of the Year and Rising Star honorees. Selected by the DMU Alumni Board and university leadership, this year’s honorees have advanced their professions and improved patient care. They are educators whose mentorships have shaped the minds of thousands of DMU students.
“These honorees represent the very best of their professions and reflect the core values of DMU — service, leadership and excellence,” says DMU President and CEO Angela L. Walker Franklin, PhD. “Our mission at DMU is to shape the future of health care through world-class education, impactful research and compassionate care. These alumni are living that mission every day.”
To be considered for the awards, recipients must:
- Be in good standing as members of their respective professional state or national organization and the DMU Alumni Association.
- Demonstrate excellent service to DMU, its students and their profession.
- Exhibit a record of service to their community on a local, state and/or national level.
Major Joshua Dilday, DO’15
Major Joshua Dilday, DO’15, an adjunct assistant professor in trauma and critical care in the surgery department at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a major in the United States Army, is the 2025 Rising Star Award Honoree. His journey to becoming a trauma surgeon and military medical leader is driven by both a sense of service and a personal calling.
Continue Reading Major Dilday’s Story
From a young age, Dilday says it was assumed he would pursue a medical career because of his interest in the subject and exposure to various medical specialties through his family’s experiences. He received his undergraduate degree in exercise science at Truman State University in northeast Missouri, the birthplace of osteopathic medicine. Osteopathic medicine had been ingrained in him throughout his undergraduate years.
After graduating, Dilday joined the military, where he says his drive for medicine was truly pushed. “I wanted to give back to my community; at that time, it was the military community,” Dilday says. “Being able to take care of soldiers in and out of the battlefront, taking care of heroes that helped protect our freedom, was what drove me to medicine itself.”
After two years of active duty, Dilday knew it was time to take his service to the next level. He began applying to medical schools and knew there were two schools leading the way in osteopathic education — one being Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences. After interviewing, it was clear to him that this would be where he would spend his next four years.
“When I went to the interview, I realized there was a military lineage of deans and former deans and a whole lot of students who had gone on to have illustrious military, specifically military surgery, careers. That pretty much sold it for me,” he says. Dilday was excited about the on-campus simulation center for surgery and the procedural aspects being taught. He knew this was a campus and a program designed to further develop each student’s career choices.
Dilday was blown away by how collegial students were at DMU. Military students and non-military students, enrolled in different programs, studied together, played ultimate frisbee together, supported each other through the hard times and celebrated their wins together. “Everyone thinks they are prepared for medical school, but no one is ever actually prepared for it. We use the term ‘drinking from a fire hose,’” Dilday says. “But drinking from a fire hose with the type of community we had at DMU allowed our bonding experience to be even stronger,” Dilday says.
With his military experience, he helped establish a program at DMU that prepared and supported future military students for their service and as health care professionals.
“Myself and a couple of other students already had military experience before we matriculated into medical school. When we got to campus, we realized there was a big need to fill the gap on what it takes to be a military officer and what it takes to be a medical provider,” Dilday says, who at the time was the national president of the Student Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. With now-retired Timothy Steele, Ph.D., a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, as the adviser, an elective was established for military students that taught the basic principles of military officership and incorporated three service branches — the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy. By the time students graduated after four years, they had a medical background and were primed to matriculate into the role of an officer.
The program has continued since its inception in 2013. Last year, it evolved to include a mentorship program, where DMU military alumni mentor a current student looking toward a career in active service. In addition to their on-campus education, students are provided opportunities to learn from current military physicians. They can look to these individuals for specific questions about the service they want to enter that a non-military background faculty member may not be able to address. “There is a need for mentorship, especially in the military medical model, because our heroes and legends aren’t going to be active forever,” Dilday says. “We need to make sure that part of our duty to propagate the future is making sure we are training leaders as early as possible. DMU can stand out because of the mentoring model we have created that connects students with alumni early in their careers.”
With early experience in surgery at DMU, Dilday went on to complete two fellowships. He completed trauma and surgical critical care fellowship training at the University of Southern California and additional fellowship training in hospital quality improvement at Los Angeles County Medical Center. While Dilday learned to master his skills in acute care surgery, his time in LA was also developmental as military officer. A number of military fellows had walked the halls before him and alongside him, teaching and learning surgery through the lens of military trauma. It was also here Dilday found an interest in more than just surgery, but a passion for quality improvement for patient care.
Parlaying these two passions into one, Dilday leans on his fellowship and military experiences to provide the best care for patients on their worst days. “My military background taught me a multifaceted leadership approach in recognizing there are obstacles. But every obstacle is a way for improvement moving forward,” Dilday says. “It’s the same when we’re faced with patient care options or an administrative issue in the medical world. My trainings have helped me see there is always an answer to move forward. It may not be the most obvious, and there will be difficult obstacles to overcome, but as a soldier and a surgeon, we have to find the unique or innovative way to get through it.” He also shares that through his training, the next most important thing is to view the entire body as one unit — mind, body and soul — when a person is experiencing trauma, it can and will impact more than just the part of their body in pain. Dilday says this is what osteopathy is all about.
Today, Dilday is an active-duty trauma surgeon stationed at the Medical College of Wisconsin and part of a partnership with the Office of the Army Surgeon General in the Army Military Civilian Trauma Team Training program, a unique model that involves collaboration between military and civilian health care facilities to enhance trauma care.
In addition to being a surgeon, Dilday offers guidance and mentorship to medical students and fellows who find themselves at the institution. “I’m here to continue training myself, but also to give back to medical students in the field who are training to be part of the AMTC3 model, which is designed to maintain a medically ready force,” Dilday says. “We strive to keep that maintenance of readiness or deployability because we need to be able to fill whatever needs to be filled at any moment.”
What keeps him going is simple: family and faith. The two drive him to face difficult days and make it easier to come out the other side. “This job is hard. Any medical job is hard, and it has the ability to take away all of your own agency to give to others in an altruistic mindset,” Dilday says. “I have the title of trauma surgeon and military officer, but I also have an identity as a father, a husband, and those things are never going to change. They continue to drive my why.”
Gary Stuck, DO’83, FAAFP
Gary Stuck, DO’83, FAAFP, a board-certified family physician, has been named the 2025 College of Osteopathic Medicine Alumnus of the Year. He most recently served as chief medical officer for Advocate Health and chief executive officer of Advocate Physician Partners, a 4,500-physician network in Illinois, from 2018 until his retirement in 2024. Before that, he was a family medicine physician in suburban Chicago for over three decades. He earned his undergraduate degrees in biology and psychology from Morningside College. Inspired by his parents’ emphasis on education, he knew from a young age he wanted to be a primary care physician. He was drawn to Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences (then the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences) because of its focus on primary care and compassionate faculty.
Continue Reading Dr. Stuck’s Story
From the age of 5, Stuck knew he wanted to be a primary care physician. Stuck isn’t entirely sure where the inspiration came from, but he jokes that his parents whispered into his bassinet that they wanted their son to become a doctor. Throughout his high school and college years, he never wavered from the path of becoming a family physician.
“In kindergarten, I drew a picture of myself with a stethoscope around my neck in front of a big ship because I wanted to go on mission trips to save the world,” Stuck says. “I knew early on that I wanted to help people. I never lost sight of that.”
Born on the West Coast, Stuck lived in Los Angeles until age 13, when his family moved to Sioux City, Iowa. His parents, both first-generation college graduates, strongly valued education. His father, a clergyman with a counseling practice, and his mother, a home economics teacher, instilled in him a deep commitment to learning — something he credits as key to his path to medicine.
Stuck earned degrees in biology and physiology from Morningside College. While in school, he worked a range of hospital jobs, from patient care assistant to autopsy assistant (where he fainted on his first day but never again after that). Stuck was eager to learn and absorb knowledge from every experience. Shadowing solo practitioners and primary care doctors introduced him to osteopathic medicine.
“When it came time to apply to medical school, I knew I wanted to pursue osteopathic medicine because of the physicians I had worked with,” Stuck says. “They were generous, compassionate and always took the time to teach and connect.” He admired how these physicians treated patients with respect, patience and humanity, never rushing, but truly seeing and listening to each person.
Before his interview at Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences, Stuck was missing a key item — a suit. A physician he had shadowed, excited about his opportunity at DMU, stepped in and took him to his tailor to buy his first one. But that wasn’t the only challenge. Stuck couldn’t afford a hotel for his three interviews. Instead, he camped just outside Des Moines, freshening up and changing into his suit in a public restroom before heading to each interview. “It’s hard to talk about now, but I’ll never forget it,” he says. “I didn’t have the financial means, but I was determined to become a physician. I believed everything else would fall into place.”
Choosing DMU was easy for Stuck. He was drawn to its people and focus on primary care. Still, the first year was tough. “I was overwhelmed and afraid of failing,” he says. “I even called my dad one night, asking him to pick me up and take me home. But my professors gave me courage to keep going. They reminded me I didn’t have to be perfect. They believed in me.” Another constant source of strength was his wife, Pam, whom he met at Morningside. They married in 1981 during his second year at DMU. A nurse, Pam supported him through his internship in Milwaukee and residency at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. Now, after 44 years of marriage, they are still each other’s biggest supporters, and they enjoy retirement, family and adventures together.
“We didn’t really intend on staying in Chicago, but I met physicians who just blew me away with their patient care skills, virtues and values,” Stuck says. “They did everything — rounded at the hospital, made house calls, took care of hospice patients in their homes — they cared about taking care of their patients. And that’s what I wanted to be. So, I joined them.” After completing his residency at Rush, Stuck and Pam planted their roots in Chicago, excited to be closer to family and a larger metro with more health care training and education opportunities. The physicians he met were part of Advocate Health Care.
Stuck joined Lawn Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, and within five years became president of the group. Despite the long hours, weekend shifts and time away from family, he loved the work. He was living his childhood dream of caring for patients.
“The trust patients place in me was the greatest privilege,” Stuck says. “Leadership was an honor, but nothing compares to that.” Over his 32-year career in primary care, Stuck cared for patients from birth to death — even treating the children and grandchildren of former patients. “Caring for multiple generations helped me understand family dynamics and become a better physician,” he says. “Even if it wasn’t financially efficient, I valued spending time with patients. It was a privilege to guide them through their hardest moments.”
Fascinated by health care systems, particularly value-based care and insurance models, Stuck found himself investing more time outside of the exam room and into leadership roles.
He held onto that connection throughout his entire career. He became one of the founding members of the Advocate Physician Partners Board of Directors, where he served as chair for 13 years. He was also the president of Advocate Christ Medical Center’s physician-hospital organization for 22 years and a member of its governing council for over two decades. In 2018, Stuck became the chief medical officer of Advocate Health, supporting what is now the third-largest nonprofit health system in the nation.
“I had to pivot from feeling responsible for 2,000 patients to over six million,” Stuck says. “And during a time when the world was just recovering from a global pandemic. I didn’t take the usual path to this position, but I was really driven to improve health outcomes, access and help patients navigate the complexities of health care systems.”
Through corporate mergers and pandemic challenges, Stuck stayed focused on patient safety and quality patient care improvement. He helped lead the implementation of high-reliability training across the system and saw measurable improvements in care delivery and safety metrics year after year. While the challenges and scale of his work grew, Stuck’s mission remained personal.
“The focus of my work has always been on the patient,” Stuck says. “The very best part of my career has been the special bonds and trust I had with my patients. DMU laid that foundation, and I know students today are trained this way, but there are so many external forces that are shaping health care. I really hope we don’t lose those special bonds in health care.”
After retiring, Stuck reflected on his three-decade career and knew he wanted to give back to the institution that helped make his dreams come true. While working on financial plans, Gary and Pam felt inspired to pay it forward. They created an endowed scholarship fund to support a DMU College of Osteopathic Medicine student with financial need. For the Stucks, this is just one way to make a lasting impact and open doors for future physicians — all while honoring the help Gary once received — and ensure others have the same opportunity to succeed.
“When it came time for college and medical school, I had been working to save for tuition. I was lucky to have received scholarships and didn’t realize it at the time, but someone was supporting me when I needed it most,” Stuck says. “I want to be that person for students today. Pam and I are excited to give back to DMU in this way so another student who has dreamt from age 5 of being a doctor receives the chance to do so.”
College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Alumni of the Year
Shari Nichols, DPM’95, FACFAS
Shari Nichols, DPM’95, FACFAS, a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon with United Health Services Podiatry in Vestal, New York, is this year’s College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Alumna of the Year. Her path to becoming a leader in podiatric medicine began in upstate New York, where she earned a degree in biology at Cortland State University. She discovered podiatry at a career fair in her second year and set her goals. Out of only seven podiatry schools in the nation at the time, she chose Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences (then the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences) for its smaller campus and holistic environment.
Continue Reading Dr. Nichols’ Story
Nichols began college as a physical education major, initially aiming to become an athletic trainer. Realizing it would likely lead to a teaching career, which she didn’t want, she switched to biology her second year. At a career fair, she learned about podiatry. “After researching the field on my own, I was drawn to the hands-on, specialized nature of podiatry and decided to pursue it,” Nichols says. That pivotal year also brought a personal turning point — Nichols met her future husband, Abe. Both were biology majors, and Nichols was recruiting students for a 10-day lab trip. They began dating before the trip and remained connected, even through schooling and residencies.
Nichols explored several podiatric schools, many in large metropolitan areas, but never felt at home. That changed when she arrived in Des Moines. Her small-town roots made the city’s quieter pace, green spaces and close-knit campus community appealing.
“Des Moines felt familiar,” Nichols says. “It felt like home.” Nichols credits much of her success at DMU to mentors Robert Yoho, D.P.M., M.S., FACFAS, then-future dean (now retired) of the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, and Vincent Mandracchia, M.S.’94, D.P.M., a former clinical professor and current executive vice president and chief medical officer at Broadlawns Medical Center. “Dr. Yoho had a calm presence but pushed us to give our best each day,” she says. “Dr. Mandracchia took our class under his wing. He taught us how to stand out. Not just clinically, but in the little things that show patients we care.”
Those lessons, the attention to detail and compassion, remain central to Nichols’ practice and are values she now passes on to her residents.
Nichols also credits Joy Schiller, then-director of DMU’s Wellness Center, and the wellness facilities for creating a space where all students from all programs could come together with a shared purpose — to exercise and prioritize their well-being.
“Working out was crucial for me during school. It helped me balance the intense academics and maintain my sanity,” Nichols says. She trained in the gym and taught aerobics and step aerobics alongside Schiller for several years. Exercise remained a constant in Nichols’ life beyond her time at DMU, later becoming an important outlet when she and Abe discovered a shared passion for running.
After graduating, Nichols completed her residency at Yale-New Haven and was part of the second class to join as part of the primary Podiatric Medicine Residency, a three-year residency program newly added to the one- or two-residency paths at the time. When she became a first-year surgical resident, the program merged with Yale University. “I was part of transitioning the program from the Veterans Affair to Yale,” Nichols says. “I worked with the doctors that were part of the limb salvage team and helped out in the operating room.”
Engaged at the time, Nichols was eager to begin her life and career after residency. She married and returned to upstate New York, where her husband, a chiropractor, grew up. She started in private practice with James E. McNerney, D.P.M., before partnering with Joan C. Adler, D.P.M., then the sole podiatrist at UHS. Together, they helped establish what would grow into a thriving podiatry program.
“I pulled a lot of on-call shifts and early mornings and even learned some nursing skills. Whatever it took, I did,” Nichols says. She remained in that role for 10 years before expanding her work to include wound care. When the Wound Care Center launched at UHS in 2010, Nichols was one of its founding podiatrists. She continues to see patients there.
During this time, Nichols stayed committed to training future podiatrists. She has served numerous roles at UHS since 1998, including associate director, chair of the podiatry department, residency director and wound care director. “I still practice privately and do surgeries, just not as often as I used to,” Nichols says. “My focus has shifted to guiding the next generation of podiatrists. I’m very proud of my residents and the residency program we have here at UHS. It brings me so much joy fostering those relationships and passing along my knowledge to the residents who then put it in their practice.”
Although her residents come from all over the country, Nichols sees many DMU residents enter her doors. Unbiasedly (of course), Nichols believes the residents from DMU are well prepared for the next step of their careers, far more prepared than students from other schools. “And I can say that as the director of the program and a DMU alumna,” Nichols says.
When a resident arrives, Nichols’ job is to take the base of where the student is and build on it. Many aspects of the job cannot be taught completely in the classroom and need to be taught hands-on in the room. Residents observe and participate when appropriate to fine-tune their skills. Nichols supports them through each challenge and pushes them to take on the next. Throughout their time with her, Nichols makes sure they don’t forget that the most important thing is to listen to the patient and ensure they are comfortable and cared for.
“I like taking care of people,” Nichols says. “I’m invested. I care for my patients and my residents. It was hard for me when I started my career because of the sleepless nights and worry I was doing the best for patient care. But through it all, I’ve always stayed true to how I can make this patient’s quality of life better. It’s one of the greatest parts of my profession; podiatry is the only area of medicine where you get to do everything and anything on one area of the foot or one area of the body.”
Taking care of herself is how she fueled taking care of others. Before having kids, Nichols found enjoyment outside of work in golfing. Once she had children, she shifted her focus to building her practice. When her son, Zachary, now 22, and her daughter, Mariah, now 20, got a little bit older, Nichols and her husband started running. It didn’t take long before Abe started running marathons, and after watching him in a few races, Nichols decided she wanted to run marathons, too. The couple did a lot of racing together and cheered each other on in larger marathons they qualified for, including the Boston Marathon. “It’s how we stayed connected all those years of working full time, raising our children, growing our practices and just living life,” Nichols says. “We loved it.”
The couple ran their last race, a half marathon in Syracuse, together in 2019. Abe was diagnosed with a brain tumor and passed away in November 2020. Although she hasn’t run a race since, Nichols still runs for her enjoyment. Her kids keep her going. Zachary is graduating from Niagra University this year and plans to go to chiropractor school, taking after his dad. Mariah runs track at the University of Hartford, sharing a love for running with her parents.
Nichols was in the middle of resident interviews when her phone showed an incoming call from an Iowa number. The call was from Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D., president and CEO of DMU, congratulating her on being named the CPMS Alumna of the Year. “I was in work mode when I took the call, so the initial shock didn’t really happen until I shared the news with the residents after the call,” Nichols says. “Thinking about everything I’ve done in my career and knowing it started at DMU, seeing it come full circle with the students who come through on rotations or the residents, it’s all excellent. I’m proud and I’m humbled.”
Carla Stebbins, MHA’93, PhD
Carla Stebbins, MHA’93, PhD, is this year’s College of Health Sciences Alumna of the Year. Her path to health care management began unexpectedly. After earning her undergraduate degree in business and marketing at the University of Northern Iowa, Stebbins managed retail stores across the Midwest. While managing a store in downtown Des Moines, she lived across the street from Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences when it was located at 3200 Grand Ave. (then the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences). Her curiosity about the “osteopathic” building turned into her future. She started dating a DMU student who encouraged her to consider a career in health care administration. Stebbins took the leap and enrolled in the Master of Health Care Administration program and found herself an integral part of the program’s evolution.
Continue Reading Dr. Stebbins’ Story
“I am the oldest of four children, so, you know, I’ve managed my brothers my whole life,” Stebbins says. “I took those management skills into my professional career while working as a store manager for a women’s clothing store called Seifert’s and thought, ‘Why not try out health care management?’ I was already reaching the end of my growth in retail, so the timing was perfect.” Stebbins visited campus and met the director of the M.H.A. program at the time, Mary Pat E. Wohlford, M.H.A.’90, M.S., Ph.D. The two hit it off.
“My very first class, I remember it fondly, was an overview of the U.S. health care system and we had two thick textbooks. I had to read them with a dictionary,” Stebbins says. “I remember thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’ but I had a great group of friends to help me spell out all the acronyms and stuck it out.”
With a marketing background, Stebbins had little prior experience in health care, unlike her peers, but knew the importance of one shared value — customer service or, in this case, patient service. Wohlford helped Stebbins connect the skills she already possessed to finding the essence of health care, keeping patients at its core. Stebbins’ business background and these transferable skills caught Wolford’s eye, so she suggested Stebbins work part time to support the program and gain health care experience. Stebbins said yes and started work in the admissions office, helping recruit for the M.H.A. program. She also served as an academic secretary in the physician assistant program.
Her part-time position in the M.H.A. program turned into a full-time staff position in 1992 when she began coordinating marketing and enrollment efforts. Stebbins graduated in 1993 and worked in that role until she was offered a faculty position in 1999. She became the M.H.A. program director in 2004. When Stebbins took over, online education was an emerging concept. Stebbins knew it was an opportunity DMU should take advantage of. Together, Stebbins and the new director of the public health program at the time launched an online M.H.A. program. It exploded.
“Iowa is so rural, and we were thinking about all the individuals who couldn’t attend in-person classes, so we knew we had to offer them something more accessible,” Stebbins says. “The program grew and offered a lot of opportunity to M.H.A. students based anywhere in the U.S. We quickly were able to add more faculty and build the program to the point where we could explore accreditation.”
Stebbins presented the idea of accreditation to the advisory board and put plans in motion.
“The board said yes,” Stebbins says. “But they told us we didn’t have to hurry. For us, it was all in or nothing, so we put together a plan and got to work. It was a long process, but in the end, I really came to respect the accreditation process and the creative process of making our program what we wanted it to be.” In 2015, under her leadership, the M.H.A. program achieved accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education.
After 22 years at DMU, Stebbins joined the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2016 as director of the health systems administration graduate program, the sole full-time employee. Despite starting from scratch, she led the program through the accreditation process, a challenging task made even more challenging by the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’ve been teaching online since 1999, so the remote work was something I was already pretty comfortable with,” Stebbins says. “But I was the only one doing the work, and it took me about six months to figure out what I was managing, build the faculty and then take on another accreditation process.” “
I didn’t think health care administration was something I would do in my life, but I am so glad I took the risk that truly launched my career,” Stebbins says. “Most people I interact with think about doctors and nurses when you talk about health care but don’t think about the administrative side of things. Our jobs are important to the foundation of any organization. We remove barriers, create resources and create processes that support improvement. That’s what health care administrators do.”
In 2023, she became the M.H.A. program director at Texas Women’s University. The opportunity arose when a friend, who was aware that Stebbins had completed two accreditation processes, reached out after a site visit to the university’s M.H.A. program and knew they needed her help. After achieving CAHME accreditation at DMU, Stebbins applied to be a fellow for the accreditation organization and conducted site visits throughout the next chapter of her career. Her expertise as a site visitor and a director who had gone through the process set her up for success in her third accreditation process. This year, Texas Women’s will receive its site visit to find out if it will become a CAHME-accredited program.
Most recently, in summer 2025, Stebbins stepped into the same leadership role at Texas A&M University’s School of Public Health.
Throughout her career — from retail manager to faculty leader— Stebbins credits her education for shaping her life. She is driven by a passion to empower her students in the same way. “I went from running a women’s clothing store, knowing nothing about health care but enjoying managing people, to helping achieve accreditation for the program I went through and helping shape others,” Stebbins says. “Enrolling in the M.H.A. program at DMU changed my DNA forever. I wouldn’t be where I am today had I not followed my curiosities and approached the building glowing across the street from my apartment.”
Learn more about past alumni award recipients or nominate a deserving DMU graduate for an alumni award.