Ronald Tello, MD ’76 (Internal Medicine Residency ’79), and Michael Ray Brown, MD ’92, were

Tello	Brown

selected as dual recipients of the Alumni of the Year Award for 2010 by the Bismarck State College (BSC) National Alumni Association. BSC honored them at a dinner for friends, family, and associates on May 13, and during BSC’s commencement on May 14. The trustees selected Tello, ’70, and Brown, ’82, for their extraordinary professional achievements, dedication to the medical field, and leadership in the Bismarck community. 

Tello, an internal medicine physician at Medcenter One Health Systems since 1979, was cited by the trustees for dedicating time and service to the Bismarck-Mandan community far beyond expectations for doctors in private or group practice. For the past 25 years, he has been medical director for area businesses, nursing homes, and the youth correctional center.

Tello is Kidder County health officer and just ended 12 years as Burleigh County health officer, Burleigh County coroner, and medical coordinator for the USDA Agriculture Research Service’s health surveillance program in Mandan. Tello originated the Occupational Health Services department at Q&R Clinic/Medcenter One and served as its medical director from 1992 to 2008. In 2008, he became chief of staff at Triumph Hospital in Mandan, where he has been a physician since 1999. 

Brown joined the St. Alexius Heart & Lung Clinic in 2000 as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon with a special interest in research. Chief and co-investigator of numerous published and abstracted articles, he has completed studies on diabetes, heart and lung disease, surgical interventions, and cancer. Brown is now involved in two international clinical trials using stents for carotid artery stenosis and medication for people with high risk for coronary bypass grafting.

His research on cardiovascular diseases was recognized nationally by the American Heart Association as a finalist for the Melvin L. Marcus Investigator Award in Cardiovascular Science. Brown delivered an invited scientific paper at the 19th International Congress on Endovascular Interventions in 2006. He holds a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology and is an Army National Guard Medical Corps combat veteran.