A conversation with the 2020 honorary degree recipients

With in-person gatherings still restricted due to the pandemic, 2020 SUNY honorary degree recipients Donnica L. Moore and Richard A. Schatz recently received their degrees — both SUNY Honorary Doctorates in Science — in a virtual ceremony.

After the degrees were conferred, Moore and Schatz spent some time talking about their time at UB and their work in health care with President Satish K. Tripathi; Michael Cain, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Anne Curtis, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine; and Rod Grabowski, vice president for university advancement.

Moore is an internationally recognized women’s health expert and advocate, who serves as president of Sapphire Women’s Health Group, a multimedia firm that educates women about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. A pioneering physician, she utilizes public speaking and multiple media platforms — including her own website and podcast — to share impactful health information in layperson’s terms.

A 1986 alumna of the Jacobs School, Moore underwent residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Temple University, followed by a year of family medicine training at Memorial Hospital of Burlington, New Jersey. The editor-in-chief of Women’s Health for Life, she has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Women's Health and the Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, in addition to the board of directors of the Society for Women’s Health Research, among other organizations.

Known for her relatable delivery and depth of expertise, Moore was the women’s health contributor for NBC’s “Later Today” and has appeared more than 800 times on such programs as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Anderson Cooper Show” and “Good Morning America.” Additionally, she has been a medical adviser or medical advisory board member for companies including DuPont and Helm Pharmaceuticals.

Schatz is co-creator of the first coronary stent approved by the Food and Drug Administration for restenosis. Known as the Palmaz-Schatz stent, this life-saving device has been used to treat coronary artery disease in nearly 100 million patients worldwide since its approval in 1994. It is considered one of the top 10 medical device patents of the past 50 years.

A New York native, Schatz is the research director of cardiovascular interventions at the Scripps Clinic and director of gene and stem cell therapy. He is an elected fellow of the American College of Cardiology; in 2019, he received the Fritz J. And Dolores H. Russ Prize, which recognizes biomedical engineering achievements that have significantly improved the human condition. He is also the recipient of the Barton Haynes Lifetime Scholar Award from Duke University Medical Center.

Schatz attended UB in the early 1970s before gaining early admission to Duke Medical School, then completed his cardiology training at Brooke Army Medical Center. Throughout his career, he has maintained a strong affinity for UB, crediting the university’s faculty and curriculum for inspiring him to pursue a career in medicine.