New College of Medicine Deanship Will Enhance Mission of Health Equity
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An alumnus of the University of Illinois College of Medicine has established the G. Stephen Irwin Deanship in the College of Medicine. Before enrolling at the College of Medicine Dr. Irwin was working for the Chevron Oil company when he realized his true calling was to become a doctor. He went on to graduate with honors in 1977 and completed five years of postgraduate education in orthopedics at the University of Illinois Hospital. “My tuition at UIC was affordable and made the transition to medicine possible,” Irwin said. “The quality of education and training were excellent. My career in medicine was transformative, and I never had second thoughts about the career change.”
The College of Medicine has the distinction of being one of the largest and most diverse medical schools in the country, and the deanship is the first named and endowed deanship at UIC. The endowment will provide discretionary funds to allow a sitting dean to shape the direction of the college. Dr. Irwin sees the establishment of the named deanship as his way of giving back to the university. “The dean’s position is critical, and the deanship funding from the endowment will help the dean in many ways, including teaching excellence and faculty enhancement,” Irwin said. “UIC as a whole is a novel, edgy, urban university and should be recognized as such by endowing the dean’s position.”
College of Medicine Executive Dean Dr. Mark I. Rosenblatt will be the first holder of the G. Stephen Irwin Deanship. Rosenblatt said the gift will allow him and all future deans to fulfill the college’s mission of advancing health equity and promoting outstanding education, research and clinical care. “I am forever grateful to Dr. Irwin for his continued generosity toward the College of Medicine and UIC,” Rosenblatt said. “I am tremendously honored and humbled to be named the G. Stephen Irwin Executive Dean.”
UIC Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Dr. Robert Barish noted the deanship is crucial because it will help draw faculty committed to serving future generations and marginalized populations. “We remain focused on recruiting and retaining world-class faculty members who are committed to training leaders in medicine and serving our communities,” Barish said. “A named deanship is special in that it provides transformational, enduring support to our outstanding faculty and allows the named dean to make investments that have profound collegewide impact.”