The second recipient of the Carl V. Pellonpaa Lifetime Achievement Award has been announced, and we can’t think of a more worthy recipient.

Dr. Daniel S. Mazzuchi was named as the recipient of the Carl V. Pellonpaa Lifetime Achievement Award because of his dedication to the community and serving the health care needs of the area.

The annual award was created to recognize one individual from across Upper Michigan who has dedicated a life of service to their individual business or industry and the community, much like Carl Pellonpaa did. Don Ryan was the first recipient of the award in 2019. Dr. Mazzuchi will receive the award in late March.

“Selecting our recipient for 2020 was easy. Dr. Mazzuchi has dedicated his life to his career and his community. Even after his retirement, he continues to volunteer and champion new causes. He is a worthy recipient of the 2020 Carl V. Pellonpaa Lifetime Achievement Award,” said TV6 and FOX UP Vice President and General Manager Rick Rhoades in the press release.

Mazzuchi received a bachelor of science in biology from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, graduating in 1961. He went on to receive his M.D. from George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., in 1965. His postgraduate training included a mixed medicine internship from 1965-66 and an internal medicine residency from 1966-68, both at D.C. General Hospital, Washington, D.C.

In addition Dr. Mazzuchi was awarded a nephrology fellowship at George Washington University from 1968-69. Upon completion he joined the U.S. Navy as a staff internist at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida from 1969-71.

In May 1973, Dr. Mazzuchi entered private practice for internal medicine and nephrology in Marquette.

His long and distinguished medical career is highlighted with numerous achievements including serving as Chief of Staff at Marquette General Hospital where he established the hospital’s first full-time emergency department. He helped launch the Marquette Family Medicine Residency Program.

Mazzuchi was also instrumental in developing the U.P. community campus for the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, being named associate dean of the program and CEO of the Upper Peninsula Health Education Corporation. Each year four students from the program receive scholarships named for Dr. Mazzuchi, who retired in 2000.

Throughout his life, Dr. Mazzuchi has been very involved in numerous aspects of the community. He is a respected leader whose community activities includes: mayor, City of Marquette; president, Marquette Area Chamber of Commerce; president, Economic Club of Marquette County; vice president, Marquette EDC; board of directors, Wildcat Club of NMU; and member, NMU Pre-Medical Advisory Board, just to name a few.

This doesn’t even begin to cover all of Mazzuchi’s accolades. Pellonpaa dedicated his life to making the U.P. a better place in any way he could, and this award is being granted to another man of that caliber. We would like to extend our congratulations, as well as a sincere thank you, to Dr. Mazzuchi.