Each year, Reunion and Alumni Weekend at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (Katz) serves as a touchpoint for alumni across programs and generations, marking milestone reunions, celebrating their accomplishments and shared experiences, and reconnecting with the place where their careers began.
The 2026 celebration opened with Katz’s Narrative Medicine program’s Life in Medicine Speaker Series. This session in the series featured a conversation between New York Times bestselling author and director of Temple’s Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program Liz Moore alongside award-winning novelist Justin Torres. The thoughtful conversation was framed around Torres’ bestselling novel We the Animals, and explored his inspiration, writing process, and his observations and experiences with healthcare that informed his storytelling.
Friday night hosted the weekend’s Welcome Social at the Logan Hotel in Center City, and by Saturday morning, the Medical Education Research Building was brimming with energy.
At the National Medical Association (NMA) Coffee Hour, alumni heard how students are engaging with programs that extend beyond the classroom, and supporting Katz’s mission of access and excellence for all. Alumni conversation emphasized the value of mentorship and staying involved, and paying it forward to continue shaping and supporting the student experience at Temple.
Two floors down, alumni, students and philanthropic supporters celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Temple Emergency Action Corps (TEAC), one of the university’s largest student-run organizations. Covered in a recent university feature, what started as a student-led response to Hurricane Katrina has grown into a sustained effort reaching communities in North Philadelphia and as far as Ghana. The program highlighted that evolution through student presentations covering everything from TEAC’s early foundation to its current work in community engagement, global health and the intersection of public health and structural inequality.
Later in the morning, everyone came together for the Dean’s Brunch, where the scale of the weekend came into focus. Alumni from across decades filled the room, many celebrating milestone reunions, and all sharing in a collective sense of pride in what Temple is and represents.
“We are all Temple Made,” said Amy. J Goldberg, MD, FACS, the Marjorie Joy Katz Dean. “…so we wear our history, our founding principles, and our ongoing mission as a badge of honor. Pride amplified by generations of purpose, talent, and drive. Defined by excellence, and full of heart.”
The program honored this year’s Medical Alumni Association (MAA) awardees whose careers reflect the breadth of what a Katz education makes possible, including Page M. and Henry P. Laughlin Alumna of the Year Susan Kressly, MD ’86 – a pediatrician, children’s health advocate, and immediate past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Our alumni award honorees’ work spans patient care, research, leadership and service, but the throughline was consistent: a commitment to making a difference.
At the Signature Celebration at the Barnes Foundation on Saturday night, the setting offered a reminder that medicine, at its best, draws on both science and something less tangible: the ability to connect, to listen and to care. That idea came through clearly in the closing toast.
“At Temple, we teach the art of medicine,” said Dean Goldberg. “We lead with humanity. Treat people, not just illnesses. We communicate clearly, listen fully, and care deeply about doing more good. That’s what sets us apart, and what makes us Temple Made.”
Across every event, Reunion and Alumni Weekend 2026 reinforced that the greatest strength of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine lives in its people, and in the connections that continue long after graduation.
View photos from our 2026 Reunion and Alumni Weekend
Next year, those connections will be made even stronger as Katz prepares to celebrate its 125th anniversary. Reunion and Alumni Weekend will serve as the centerpiece of that milestone, with a marquee celebration planned for Saturday, May 1, 2027. More than a date to note, it’s an invitation to come back and be part of a defining moment in the school’s history.