2007: Leonard C. Hymes, M.D.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine
Dr. Hymes is a Phi Beta Kappa, magnum cum laude graduate with over 60 scholarly publications to his name and is a pediatric nephrologist who has helped Camp Independence grow into the largest and longest running summer camp of its kind in the United States.

2006: John D. Whelchel, M.D.
Director, Organ Transplant Services, Piedmont Hospital
Dr. Whelchel also has been Livingston Professor of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine and associate professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He also serves as medical director of LifeLink of Georgia.

2005: The Honorable Judge Griffin B. Bell
U.S. Attorney General under President Jimmy Carter; Judge of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, appointed by President John F. Kennedy; Chief of Staff for the late Georgia Governor S. Ernest Vandiver; managing partner, and now senior counsel, with the law firm of King & Spalding LLC; and recently diagnosed with kidney disease.

2004: H. Keith Johnson, M.D.
Founder of Dialysis Clinic, Inc. (DCI).
Since its founding as a nonprofit organization in 1971, DCI has invested more than $100 million toward its threefold mission of patient services, education, and research.

2003: David C. Lowance, M.D.
President of the National Kidney Foundation of Georgia for 10 years, stepping down from that role in June 2002; affiliated with Piedmont Hospital since 1973, serving as Chief of Nephrology and as Medical Director of Renal Transplantation; appointed medical administrator for LifeLink of Georgia in 2002.

2002: Juha P. Kokko, M.D., Ph.D.
Immediate past chair of medicine at Emory University; nationally and internationally recognized for his studies on kidney function.

2001: Dr. Norris Leo Hogans, Sr.
A dialysis patient well respected for his long career as an administrator and educator in the Atlanta Public Schools and for his service to the community. Mr. Hogans died several months after being honored as the 2001 Gift of Life Honoree.

2000: William C. Waters III, M.D.
One of the first full-time clinical practitioners of nephrology in Georgia and member of the team that performed Georgia’s first kidney transplant.

1999: Lisa Martin Tunnell
Recipient of two kidney transplants, community leader with long association with NKFG.

1998: Byron L. Harris
Business and community leader, instrumental in starting the Gift of Life Gala.

1997: Ronald W. Allen
At the time of his being the honoree was serving as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines.

1996: Arthur B. Martin
Senior Partner with Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP.

1995: Lloyd F. Timberlake, M.D.; Francis Fitzhugh, M.D.
Performed the first hemodialysis in State of Georgia.

1994: Sartain Lanier; Mrs. J. Hicks Lanier
Business and community leaders and philanthropists.

1993: B. Franklin Skinner
Business and community leader.

1992: John Skandalaikis, M.D.
Surgeon, community leader, Emory University professor.

1991: Sam Ambrose, M.D.
Chairman, Department of Urology, Emory University.

1990: Arthur J. Merrill, M.D.
First kidney specialist in Georgia; former chairman, Department of Medicine, Emory University.

1989: Mr. and Mrs. Tom Martin
Business and community leaders.

1988: Elbert Tuttle, M.D.
First Chairman, Department of Nephrology at Emory University; Founding Father of the National Kidney Foundation of Georgia.

Please contact the National Kidney Foundation at 1-800-633-2339 if you have any questions about the donation of an organ, or if you would like to have more information about how you can help the NKFG.