OHIO awards Konneker Medal to alumnus Frank Papay

Internationally acclaimed surgeon and inventor Dr. Frank Papay has been named as the winner of the 2025 Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship.

A highly respected surgeon, inventor and entrepreneur with nearly 40 years of professional achievement, Papay is board certified in plastic surgery, otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, and as a medical examiner in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Florida.

Papay is recognized as one of the nation’s foremost experts in plastic surgery and facial reconstruction. In 2008, he served as the chief craniofacial plastic surgeon during the first face transplant in America.

In 2018, Papay led a team of 11 doctors who performed the Cleveland Clinic’s first-ever full-face transplant on Katie Stubblefield. At 21, Stubblefield became the youngest person in the United States to receive a complete face transplant. The case, documented through a story in National Geographic, gave Papay world-wide recognition. He has since completed the procedure on many more patients.

“This year Dr. Papay stood out among a highly competitive group of nominees. It is truly a privilege to have the chance to recognize his work. As an OHIO alum, his work is an inspiration to our current students,” Ohio University Vice President for Research and Creative Activity Eric Muth said.

Papay received his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Ohio University in 1975 and was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from OHIO in 2020. He also completed an M.S. Biomedical Engineering degree from Case Western Reserve University; his M.D. from Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), a PhD in Management and Entrepreneurship from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and several certificates in entrepreneurship, venture capital, and executive management from Columbia, Wharton, and Weatherhead.

The American Association of Plastic Surgeons awarded him its Research Achievement Award for Innovation in 2023. And, among many other awards, he was also selected as NEOMED’s Distinguished Alumni in 2022.

In 2016, he was awarded the Ohio University Medal of Merit.

Changing lives for the better

Papay holds more than 24 patents on medical devices which have improved surgeries and resulting patient health outcomes for thousands of people across the globe. In addition to his many inventions that improve surgeries and benefit surgeons, his inventions also help patients with sleep apnea, chronic headache pain, cluster migraines, and wound healing, among many other illnesses.

In addition, Papay is a managing partner at Nirvana Healthcare Ventures, a fund which develops and commercializes new transformational healthcare innovations.

His nominator for the award, Stacy Strauss, wrote “Dr. Papay is a thought-leader and highly respected surgeon, inventor, and entrepreneur.” She goes on to quote Dr. Papay’s own words “people think you need to distinguish between an entrepreneur and a doctor, and I think that’s terribly wrong. Practicing medicine should be a blend of innovation and entrepreneurship.”

The proud Bobcat is also an avid and active supporter of Ohio University. For example, he and fellow alumnus Jon Snyder set up an endowed fund to create the Papay-Snyder Medical Impact Award, which is presented to the most promising medical or healthcare related project at the Student Research and Creativity Expo.

Papay has also been an active supporter of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences and visits campus often to speak with students and participate in OHIO events.

Papay will receive his award during the Inventors Dinner and Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship presentation which will be held on Oct. 23, 2025, from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens. Email research@ohio.edu if you would like to be invited to this private event.

The Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship

The Konneker Medal was established by the Ohio University Foundation to recognize current or former faculty members, as well as students and alumni, who have demonstrated excellence in innovation, invention, commercialization, and entrepreneurship. Recipients are chosen based on nominations reviewed by a judging committee with representation from faculty, university leadership, and the Technology Transfer Office.

Will Konneker was an Ohio University alumnus with a distinguished record in research and entrepreneurship. He graduated from Ohio University in 1943 with a bachelor of science in chemistry from the College of Arts and Sciences. He entered the military during World War II and was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers’ secret Manhattan Project, working as part of the effort to develop the atomic bomb. After the war he returned to Ohio University, where he earned a master’s degree in physics in 1947. He went on to receive a doctoral degree in nuclear physics from Washington University in 1950.

Konneker founded the Nuclear Consultants Corp. in St. Louis, Missouri. He either founded or co-founded six additional high-tech start-up companies. Konneker was instrumental in the establishment of Ohio University's small business incubator, the Innovation Center, as well as the successful university biotechnology spin-off company Diagnostic Hybrids Inc., now a unit of QuidelOrtho. He was one of the principal architects of the Cutler Scholars program and a member of the Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees. The research building housing the Edison Biotechnology Institute at the Ridges was named in his honor to recognize his leadership and service. The Konneker Alumni Center also was named for Will and his wife, Ann Lee.

You can read more about the Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship at this website.