The National Kidney Foundation of Michigan will honor Stephen Migdal, M.D., with the Ford Motor Company Champion of Hope Award on Thursday, June 28 at the Eighth Annual Ford Motor Company Champion of Hope Tribute Dinner at The Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn. The award recognizes outstanding contributions of individuals in the fields of business, philanthropy and health care that provide eternal hope and healing to the citizens of Michigan.

Ford Motor Company is the presenting sponsor for the 2001 Ford Motor Company Champion of Hope Tribute Dinner. The NKFM will also honor Bloomfield Hills’ Sue Nine (Community Philanthropist) and Grosse Pointe Farms’ Gerry Donnelly (Ford Motor Company, Ford Division Field Operations Manager).

Migdal, from Farmington Hills, serves as Chief of Nephrology at Wayne State University and Harper Hospital in Detroit. A member of the WSU faculty for 26 years, Migdal is Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for the Hemacare and Gambro dialysis centers and is Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the Renal Network of the Upper Midwest.

Active with the NKFM for many years, Migdal sits on the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board and Grants and Fellowship Committee. Migdal has received numerous awards for his work in nephrology, including the 1999 National Kidney Foundation Volunteer Award and the 1998 WSU School of Medicine Teaching Award.

Proceeds from the 2001 Ford Motor Company Champion of Hope Tribute Dinner support the NKFM. In Michigan alone, there are over 9,000 patients on dialysis and more than 2,500 awaiting life-saving organ transplants. Through programs in research, patient services, organ donation, professional education and public information, the Foundation brings help and hope to thousands of Michigan residents.