The Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award is given annually to an AGS member who has provided leadership to train students in geriatrics and has contributed significantly to the progress of geriatrics education in health professions schools. Teaching expertise, as well as educational program development, is valued in the selection of the recipient for this honor.
2026 Recipient: G. Michael Harper, MD
A past President of the American Geriatrics Society, Dr. Harper has dedicated his career to ensuring that all health professionals are competent to care for older adults regardless of specialty or discipline. The 2026 Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award is awarded to Dr. Harper in honor of his deep commitment to geriatrics education and mentorship and recognizes his leadership in developing the programs and professionals who will care for us all as we age.
Dr. Harper, a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, is nationally recognized as a mentor, educator, and leader. At UCSF, he teaches medical students, residents, and geriatrics fellows as well as practicing clinicians, community health workers and family caregivers on a host of topics that are important in preparing the healthcare workforce to care for all of us as we age. Dr. Harper is an advisor in the UCSF Tideswell Emerging Leaders in Aging Program (ELIA) where he mentors a small group of education scholars from across the country in a one-year leadership program designed for geriatrics health professionals in the early stages of their career who are seeking to develop leadership skills.
Dr. Harper has transformed geriatrics education at both the local and national levels as evidenced by the growth and expansion of UCSF’s Geriatrics Fellowship Training Program and the longstanding success of AGS’s Fellowship Directors conference. He has been involved in numerous publications that guide the education and practice of geriatrics health professionals. An inaugural recipient of the Geriatrics Academic Career Award from the Health Services and Resources Administration, and a recipient of numerous teaching awards and honors, including induction in the UCSF Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators, his lasting impact on geriatrics education is perhaps best reflected in the voices of his mentees, who consistently describe him as a thoughtful, humble guide—demonstrating the profound influence a dedicated educator can have across generations of health professionals and patient care.
At AGS, Dr. Harper has been a staunch advocate for integrating geriatrics principles across health professional education with the goal of ensuring that the health care workforce is prepared to care for older adults. An AGS member for 30 years, Dr. Harper has held multiple roles at the Society in addition to serving as President and Chair of the Fellowship Group. These include serving as a member of the Clinical Practice and Models of Care and Education Committees, and, as a Board member, co-chairing the Junior Faculty Task Force which established new ways for AGS to recognize junior faculty for the work that they do. He was Co-Editor of the tenth and eleventh editions of the Geriatrics Review Syllabus (GRS10 and GRS11) and the GRS Audio Companion. Currently, he co-chairs the Geriatrics-for-Specialists Initiative Council and serves as the lead editor for the recently released AGS "Alzheimer’s Disease: New Diagnostic Technologies and Treatments" online curriculum.
Past Recipients of the Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award
2026 G. Michael Harper, MD
2025 Christine K. Wanich Bradway, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN, AGSF
2024 Rainier P. Soriano, MD
2023 Kathryn Denson, MD
2022 Mitchell T. Heflin, MD, MHS
2021 Helen Fernandez, MD, MPH
2020 John Murphy, MD
2019 Nicole Brandt, PharmD, MBA, BCGP, BCPP, FASCP
2018 Jane Potter, MD, AGSF
2017 Maura Brennan, MD, AGSF, FACP, FAAHPM, HMDC
2016 Annette (Annie) Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF
2015 Barbara Resnick, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, AGSF
2014 Elizabeth K. Tanner, PhD, RN
2013 Gail Sullivan, MD, MPH
2012 Leo M Cooney, Jr., MD
2011 Sharon A. Levine, MD
2010 G. Paul Eleazer, MD
2009 Samuel C. Durso, MD, MBA
2008 Rosanne M. Leipzig, MD, PhD
2007 Steven R. Counsell, MD
2006 Kenneth Brummel-Smith, MD
2005 Harvey Jay Cohen, MD
2004 Terry T. Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN
2003 William Hall, MD, Rochester, NY
2002 Gregg A. Warshaw, MD, Cincinnati, OH
2001 Evelyn C. Granieri, MD, Pittsburgh, PA
2000 David B. Reuben, MD, Los Angeles, CA