ITHACA, N.Y. -- Dr. David Hirsch '94 has been chosen to receive the NCAA's Silver Anniversary Award at the 2019 Honors Celebration in January. He will be joined in receiving the award by Tim Cullen (Air Force), Mia Hamm (North Carolina), Lisa Leslie (Southern California), Heath Shuler (Tennessee) and Jason Varitek (Georgia Tech). The Silver Anniversary Award annually recognizes distinguished individuals on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers. Representatives of NCAA member schools, conferences and past awardees select the recipients each year.
Hirsch was the 1994 NCAA Division I wrestling champion at 126 pounds. He became the first Cornell student-athlete since 1960 and just the fifth in school history to win a national wrestling crown. A member of the Cornell Athletics and Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Halls of Fame, Hirsch was a three-time EIWA champion and a two-time All-American during his time on East Hill. His record of 116-17 ranked third in career wins at Cornell at the time. Following his athletic career, he served as an assistant wrestling coach for the Big Red during the 1994-95 season, helping lead the team to an Ivy League title and fourth place at the EIWA Championship.
Following graduation in 1994 with a degree in Applied Economics & Management, Hirsch graduated from New York University College of Dentistry in 1999 and then completed medical school, wrapping up a six-year oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at Bellevue/NYU. Today, Hirsch is chief of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/General Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. His private practice, Manhattan Maxillofacial Surgery, is nationally respected. Hirsch is a jaw surgery pioneer in the United States. A team of surgeons at NYU Langone Medical Center, led by Hirsch, performed a cutting-edge jaw surgery on a patient with a fast-growing tumor called ameloblastoma. The surgery involved removing the tumor, rebuilding the jaw bone, and dental implants — the first operation of its kind in the country. He also is a medical advisory board member for NexGen Face, an organization that provides pro bono work around the world to correct cranial and facial syndromes and birth defects. Throughout his professional career, Hirsch has traveled internationally for philanthropic purposes, performing surgeries ranging from correction of genetic deformities to major head and neck reconstruction.
Wrestler Stephen Friedman '59 joins Hirsch as Cornellians who have been selected for the Silver Anniversary Award. Other former Big Red student-athletes recognized with one of the NCAA's signature awards are lacrosse/soccer player Dan Mackesey '77 (1978 Top VIII Award) and football player Jerome "Brud" Holland '39 (1972 Theodore Roosevelt Award).
Hirsch and the other 2019 honorees will be recognized on Jan. 23 during the 2019 NCAA Convention in Orlando, Fla.
