Samuel Weiss Award for Outstanding Service to ACG
In recognition of more than 30 years of service to the College, his reputation as an expert in pancreatology, and an unwavering dedication to compassion, science and excellence, Peter Banks, MD, MACG, receives the Samuel Weiss Award. This service award in commemoration of ACG’s founding father, Samuel S. Weiss, is presented periodically, and not necessarily annually, to a Fellow of the College in recognition of outstanding career service to ACG.
Dr. Banks is an internationally known icon in gastroenterology with particular expertise in pancreatology. He has served patients and his peers for over 50 years. His ability to teach at all levels of knowledge, including patients, students, trainees and colleagues, knows no limits. Dr. Banks is humble and gracious with his time and efforts.
His research constitutes the basis of his knowledge and his publications speak to his interests and his accomplishments. Of note, now, after five decades of practice, he is the primary investigator for a National Pancreas Foundation grant and co-investigator on two active NIDDK grants.
According to one of his recommenders for the Weiss Award, “Dr. Banks has a national and international reputation not only as an outstanding gastroenterologist, but in particular, his expertise in
IBD and pancreatology is the stuff of which legends are made. He has helped set many of the guidelines for the management of pancreatitis that we currently use today.”
ACG Service
Dr. Banks curriculum vitae reports outstanding accomplishments in academia, community engagement and, most importantly, service to the College. Dr. Banks was elected to the ACG Board of
Governors, and served two terms on the Board of Trustees, 1989 to 1992 and 1995 to 2000. Of his time as a Trustee one ACG Past President commented, “he could be counted on to always think of what was best for the College, during what were two somewhat tumultuous years.”
Other ACG leadership roles for Dr. Banks include service as co-chair of the Research Committee and chair of the Public Relations Committee. He has been a member of the Practice Affairs committee, National Affairs, Patient Care, Practice Parameters, and most recently a member of the Awards Committee. His accomplishments and reputation as a physician of distinction have been recognized by the ACG in its awarding him the Berk-Fise Award in 2015 and the Baker Presidential Lectureship in 1994.
Leadership
Examples of Dr. Banks’ respect as a leader include his role as Chair of the Digestive Disease National Coalition, and President of both the American Pancreatic Association as well as the International Association of Pancreatology. He was Chairman of the National Patient Education Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and has had a long tenure on the FDA Drug Advisory Committee.
Honors
He has also received four Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Pancreatic Association, the Digestive Disease National Coalition, the Collaborative Alliance for Pancreatic Education and Research, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. Local awards include the Dr. Jerry S. Trier Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. As testimony to the person he is, Dr. Banks also was voted Humanitarian of the Year (1991) by the Greater Boston Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. The AGA awarded him its Distinguished Educator Award and Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Gastroenterology.
A Gifted Clinician, Teacher, Researcher and Author
Dr. Banks’ many admirers in the College point to his selflessness and modesty. One wrote, “His scientific expertise is remarkable when coupled with his remarkably affable and humble demeanor which have endeared him to countless students, patients and colleagues.”
Dr. Banks is the epitome of career service and dedication. His willingness to help the membership of the ACG is matched only by his outstanding dedication and exceptional performance as a clinician, teacher, research and author. He fulfills all the attributes recognized by the Samuel Weiss Award by his outstanding and selfless service to the College, and by giving so much of himself to the field he so clearly loves.
ABOUT THE SAMUEL S. WEISS AWARD
The Samuel S. Weiss Award was established as a service award in commemoration of the founding father of the ACG, Samuel S. Weiss, whose efforts and initiative resulted in the establishment of the College in 1932. It is presented periodically, and not necessarily annually, to a Fellow of the College in recognition of outstanding career service to the American College of Gastroenterology. Nominations are solicited and reviewed by the Awards Committee and the recipients must be approved by the ACG.