BUZZARDS BAY, Mass – Our first award of Senior Awards week is the Buccaneer Appreciation Award, an award established to recognize institutional staff members, past and present, for their efforts in advancing the services and programs of the institution. Without this person we would have never been able to accomplish what we did as an institution, athletic department and community. His tireless efforts, especially over the last year, have helped get us to the tail end of our experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. He has gone above and beyond for not only every student-athlete and cadet at the Academy but for every single person directly or indirectly involved with Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

The winner of this year's Buccaneer Appreciation Award is Dr. Jeffrey Cukor.

For those of you not familiar with our Academy Physician, prior to coming to the Academy, Dr. Cukor earned his Bachelor's Degree from Tufts University and his Doctor of Medicine degree from UMass Medical School where he subsequently trained as an Emergency Medicine Resident and Chief Resident. He served as the Emergency Medicine Education Director at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, before returning to UMass as a Flight Physician with UMASS LifeFlight, an Adult and Pediatric Emergency Department Attending, and ultimately the Emergency Medicine Residency Director for 11 years.  Dr. Cukor is an active Medical Officer on a Federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team and has participated in humanitarian missions aboard both USNS Hospital Ships, COMFORT and MERCY.  He is a volunteer physician with Project HOPE and an Adjunct Professor of Health Communication at Rhode Island College. Dr. Cukor has authored over 25 peer reviewed papers, book chapters or abstracts, serves as a peer reviewer for UpToDate, and has been invited to teach Emergency Medicine both nationally and internationally. Since 2011, he has proudly served as the Academy Physician here at Massachusetts Maritime supporting the cadets and campus and has participated in more than 10 sea terms.

"Over the past 14 months Dr. Cukor has been an unbelievable resource for Athletics. He has been an instrumental supporter of our Department since day one. The pressure & impact of every decision he's made to keep us safe cannot be understated. We are so very thankful to have such an invaluable asset and humble leader on our team." Director of Athletics, Mike Kelley said.

Dr. Cukor along with his team in Health Services, has worked around the clock for the last 14 months, making sure that the Academy community was in the best position to cohabitate, learn, compete, and so much more in a safe environment.

Congratulations to the 2021 recipient of the Buccaneer Appreciation Award, Dr. Jeff Cukor!