[May 2004] Barry L. Zaret, M.D., The Robert Berliner Professor of Medicine, section chief of internal medicine/cardiology and professor of diagnostic radiology at Yale, has been awarded a prestigious 2004 Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his outstanding contributions to American medicine.

Zaret and other recipients received their awards on May 15 at a gala event on Ellis Island in New York.

"I am extremely honored and humbled to receive this award, particularly since Ellis Island was my family's entry point to this country," said Zaret, whose family is from an area that was called White Russia near the border of Poland.

The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was created in 1986 to honor the many ancestral groups who through struggle, sacrifice and success, helped build this great nation. Six Presidents, several Senators, Congressmen and Nobel Prize Winners, are among the remarkable group of individuals to receive the Ellis Island Medals of Honor for their outstanding contributions to America.

This year, the prestigious Medals are again presented to outstanding Americans who have distinguished themselves as citizens of the United States. The United States Congress sanctions the awards and recipients' names are listed in the Congressional Record.