Professor Sam Drogo and the ADI Drogo Scholarships

Until his sudden passing in 2010, Sam Drogo spent his entire 36 year career teaching human anatomy and physiology at Mohawk Valley Community College in upstate New York. He was then and remains to this day honored and respected by the many students and colleagues whose lives he touched during this time. He discovered the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society in 1991 at the Greenville, South Carolina conference and remained energized by and committed to the goals of HAPS since that time. In his involvement in HAPS as in his career at MVCC, he quietly led by example.  In his uniquely humble way, Sam created a life filled with initiative, accomplishment, and dedication to his family, students, colleagues and friends. In the process, he made us better people and better educators.

Sam had the mind of a scientist and the instincts of a teacher and mentor. As a scientist, he was curious, logical, dogged, and insightful. As a teacher and mentor, he was compassionate, engaging, enthusiastic and organized. He inspired students to rise to the intellectual challenges he provided and he quietly motivated his colleagues to be innovative. Later in his career, he was recognized by the State University of New York with a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Over his many years at MVCC, Sam quietly established himself as an important element in hundreds of wonderful success stories of students who overcame adversity and forged significant careers in place of lives not yet fulfilled. He shared his expertise and passion with colleagues across the nation and was recognized as a force for innovative and involved education. As one former student said after his death, “Remember, there are a lot of RN’s who can pay it forward because of Mr. Drogo.”

Sam’s involvement with ADInstruments goes all the way back to ADI’s origin as MacLab. He liked the product from the start and stuck with it through each and every new iteration. He loved how adaptive and modifiable the system was because it allowed for the creation of different new lab activities. Leading students in the performance of science in lab…those were the times Sam was at his best. He understood the ADI system well and, more than anyone, could manipulate and adjust it “on the fly” effortlessly in order to achieve success in lab. His feedback and interaction with ADI’s technical staff helped make the system better and more user friendly. It is because of the fact that Sam so ably modeled the skillful use of ADI technology as a teaching and learning tool that ADI established the Sam Drogo Technology in the Classroom Award following his death. Those in HAPS who knew Sam well recognize what an honor it is to be selected for one of these scholarships.  Apply now – all HAPS scholarships are due December 1 this year.