As his journey in AMA leadership concluded in 2017, he completed an MBA program at The University of Tennessee and became an adjunct professor teaching health policy and advocacy.

Then, in an unexpected twist of fate, he was appointed commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Public Health in February 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the nation and upended the world. Dr. Stack’s life journey, though, has prepared him well for today’s challenges.

Throughout the journey, he’s aspired to be a servant leader. Along the way, one of his great joys in life has been the many people who have so dearly shaped him, kept him grounded, and shared so many laughs at his own quirks and oddities.

Pamela P. Bensen Trailblazer Award

Sharon E. Mace, MD, FACEP

Dr. Mace attended Syracuse University on a scholarship, majoring in chemistry. During college, she worked as a nurse’s aide at the county home. She attended medical school at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, New York, and did a pediatric residency at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. After completing a pediatric cardiology fellowship, she received a grant from the American Heart Association and did an additional two years in pediatric cardiology research during the day while working in the emergency department on evenings and weekends.

During her time in Ohio, Dr. Mace served on the Ohio ACEP Board of Directors and chaired the Education Committee. She did the first medical helicopter flight for the first air medical transport in the state.

After seven years, Dr. Mace returned to New York to be near family. She worked in various positions including ED director at Saratoga Springs, ED director of St. Mary’s Hospital, and pediatrician and chair of the emergency department at St. Elizabeth Hospital. She started the 911 dispatch for Monroe County, was EMS medical director for Monroe and Saratoga Springs Ambulance Services, and worked with Monroe Community College to establish an EMT/paramedic training program. She was elected to the NY ACEP Board of Directors.

After about a decade, academic emergency medicine again beckoned, and Dr. Mace became director of pediatric education and quality improvement and director of the observation unit at the Cleveland Clinic. She is currently director of research and assistant director of EMS.

Judith E. Tintinalli Award for Outstanding Contribution in Education

Tracy G. Sanson, MD, FACEP

Dr. Sanson is a board-certified emergency physician who practices clinically as an independent contractor. Dr. Sanson heads her own consulting firm, specializing in leadership training, personal development, faculty development, and wellness.