Honoring the Legacy of Internal Medicine

The Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa has a history that stretches back for more than 130 years. Countless stories exist of research breakthroughs, of innovations in patient care, and of the diligent and extraordinary work training successive generations of medical students, who themselves pass that tradition on.

As much as we may try to document these stories, our best repository of this information exists in the people who built the Department themselves. It’s fitting then that we regularly take time to recognize the contributions of our Professors Emeritus and to listen to and learn from their stories for help in guiding the Department into the future.

On Friday, May 20, the Department hosted close to twenty Emeritus faculty members and their spouses at a luncheon at the Levitt Center for University Advancement. Many had not seen each other in some time, so it was also a chance for long-time friends and former colleagues to catch up with one another.

Dr. Dale Abel spoke briefly to thank them for their contributions. He also expressed his own respect for the tradition with which he has been entrusted as Department Chair. The Department hopes to see all of these treasured and life-long members at next year’s luncheon.