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July 21, 2016

People of the Times

Vonda Wright

Vonda Wright

Vonda Wright, faculty member in orthopaedic surgery, has been named medical director of the 2016 Pittsburgh Triathlon & Adventure Race.

Wright, medical director of the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, is the associate head team physician for five of Pitt’s Olympic sports teams: women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, baseball and softball, as well as the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

Mark Sakr, also a faculty member in orthopaedic surgery, was named assistant medical director of the race.

UPMC Sports Medicine will serve as the official medical provider and sponsor of the weekend of events, scheduled for Aug. 13 and 14.

Mark Sakr

Mark Sakr

For information visit: www.PittsburghTriathlon.org.

Pitt-Bradford has named Douglas Alban head swimming coach of the men’s and women’s teams and has hired Marquis Walker as head women’s soccer coach.

Alban spent five years as an assistant swimming and diving coach at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. There, he helped coach five swimmers to the NCAA Division III championships, five honorable mention All-Americans and one All-American. During Alban’s time there, the swim program established 19 school records, and he earned Collegeswimming.com Assistant Coach of the Year honorable mention recognition in 2013.

Alban is a graduate of Loyola College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematical science. He earned his master’s degree in education in athletic leadership and administration at Goucher.

Walker most recently was the head girls’ soccer coach at Hudson High School, a Division I program that finished the 2015 season ranked No. 7 in Ohio.

He previously was an assistant head coach for AFC Cleveland in the men’s National Premier Soccer League. Walker also coached with the Everest Soccer Club in Hudson 2009-15, and was an assistant men’s coach at Hiram College 2009-10.

Walker earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA at Malone University.

He spent seven seasons as head coach at Malone. Six of his players have gone on to play professionally in the European Champions League and for their own national teams in Scotland, England and Mexico.

His credentials also include a National Soccer Coaches Association of America premier diploma and advanced national diploma.

Freddie Fu

Freddie Fu

Freddie Fu, chair of the School of Medicine’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, has been inducted into the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) Hall of Fame.

Fu was AOSSM president 2008-09.

The Hall of Fame honor recognizes those who have made a substantial contribution to the field. Fu is known for his pioneering treatment of sports-related injuries, including anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
To facilitate research and treatment, Fu established the first UPMC sports medicine clinic in Oakland.

He also directed the conception and construction of the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, a sports medicine complex located on the South Side.

—Compiled by K. Barlow


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