Dr. Manas Nigam, a 2007 alumnus of Carlisle, was the keynote speaker at the school’s 45th commencement ceremony on May 24.
This year’s commencement was significant as Carlisle School is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
A total of 28 seniors graduated this year. Together, they were offered $3.2 million in merit-based scholarships and received 114 acceptances into 72 different schools.
Special honors went to Teresa Martin, who received the Hooker-Garrett Award, and Shannon Reynolds, who was given the Francis T. West Award. Laura Painter was the valedictorian.
The Distinguished Alumni Award went to Nigam, who is a senior resident in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., focusing on microvascular and upper extremity surgery. During residency, he has cared for more than 1,000 patients requiring surgery for trauma, cancer surgery, chronic wounds and congenital deformities.
In December 2015, through a grant from Georgetown University Medical School, he volunteered with Interplast in Haridwar, India, to perform cleft lip and palate, syndactyly and burn contracture repairs, and he created a rotation for medical students. He also has conducted research in congenital ear deformities, breast cancer reconstruction and limb salvage, resulting in the publication of more than 20 articles and presentations and four textbook chapters.
Nigam received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 2015. While in medical school, he received the University of Chicago Uncommon Fund Grant and the Dennis and Anita Lee Global Health Scholarship, which allowed him to teach preventive health to children at the Sri Ram Ashram in India. In his final year, served as chief of the Medical School Student Council and Student Body.
He completed degrees in finance and economics at the University of Virginia, Class of 2011, where he was a Jefferson Scholar. As a college student, he served as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad. He attended the McIntire School of Commerce, where he received the Warwick D. Johnston International Scholarship to study business at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
He was one of 47 students in his class to be a resident of the Lawn, part of the original U.Va. grounds.
At Carlisle, Nigam completed the International Baccalaureate Program. He was active in school extracurricular activities, including varsity soccer and tennis, the spring musicals and the fall dramas. He also played bass and piano for the school jazz band and orchestra.
Nigam volunteered at the Stratford Rehabilitation Center during his time at Carlisle, working with geriatric patients, and he currently is the volunteer medical director for free clinics for the Virginia-Washington, D.C.-Maryland region sponsored by the Sai Center. The role entails organizing physicians and volunteers for medical screenings made available to hundreds of patients without other access to preventive medical care.
The medical field is a common bond in the Nigam family as Manas gets to work regularly with his brother Dr. Aradhya Nigam, Carlisle Class of 2008, who also is a resident in general surgery at Georgetown University Hospital.
Manas lives in Arlington with his wife Komal Karnik Nigam, JD, MPH. They met during their first year at the University of Virginia and dated long-distance through graduate school, which she completed at Harvard Law School. She now is a senior associate at Hogan Lovells US LLP. They have a one-year-old daughter Shreya.
