I hope this column finds you enjoying the longer days and warmer weather of spring!


Dapper Dan Charities of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presented its Sports Leadership Award to Freddie Fu, M.D., in March at its 76th annual awards ceremony. The charities honored Freddie alongside Mike Ditka, who received a lifetime achievement award, and the 2011 selections for sportsman and sportswoman of the year. The Dapper Dan fundraising event is Pittsburgh’s largest and most prestigious sports and awards banquet and auction of sports memorabilia. Dapper Dan Charities supports the youth sports and education programs of the Boys and Girls Clubs in western Pennsylvania that serve more than 7,000 children annually. The award recognized Freddie’s leadership as the chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, as physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), as team physician of the university’s department of athletics and as founder of the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, one of the most influential research centers in the world. Freddie and his team focus on injury prevention and the safety of athletes while also developing new techniques to treat injuries. He has been instrumental in reforms to high school athletics, advocating that each school have an athletic trainer and an ambulance on site at football games. Freddie moved to Pittsburgh to complete his medical studies and training after graduating from Dartmouth and Dartmouth Medical School. In addition to his many medical activities, Freddie is very involved with numerous community and arts organizations. Freddie is married to Hilda Pang Fu, a porcelain painter as well as the founder and president of Luminari, a nonprofit innovation lab that fosters original activities to broaden minds, inspire innovation and promote community engagement. Freddie and Hilda have two children, Gordon ’99 and Joyce ’03.


As always, be safe and send news.


—Rick Sample, Retreat Farm, 1137 Manakin Road, Manakin Sabot, VA 23103; samplejr@msn.com