Dear Colleague, 

It has been quite a full two weeks surrounding the Labor Day weekend, which heralds the fall season. The Thursday before the holiday, more than 600 new students to this campus began their interprofessional course. That day, I had a meeting with Representative Mike Coffman prior to welcoming the new students and I brought him along to the 600-seat auditorium to listen in to the start of the program. There is always a lot of excitement in the room on the first day of a new course, but the atmosphere in that auditorium that morning was electric! I welcomed the group and gave them the nearly 20 years of history that the schools and programs on this campus have written into interprofessional education.  Rep. Coffman was impressed. He returns to Washington this week for what should be another interesting week of political negotiation. And after a week of hot weather in our region, it should be a lot cooler here. 

Leaders of the University of Colorado, including President Bruce Benson, gathered Wednesday, Aug. 28, to celebrate School of Medicine students receiving the President’s Diversity Scholarships as well as the UPI Medical Scholarships. It was a wonderful gathering of talented students and the many faculty who donated to these programs. The faculty contributions are testimony to their dedicated support of this upcoming generation of physicians.

The day after Labor Day, I went to another funeral for one of our retired faculty. Charles Halgrimson, MD, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 27.  Charlie was a terrific help to me during my early years as Dean. He made significant contributions to the Department of Surgery and its transplant team in the early years, and to the School of Medicine, especially when he stepped in to be Acting Dean in the mid-1980s. He was a man who was sparing with his words, but long with his wisdom.  He will be missed. 

Last Friday there was another well-attended gathering of our faculty and directors of finance and administration from our basic science departments with the chairs of current and proposed departments. This session completed a series of open forums and meetings I have had with the individual departments. Faculty were encouraged to talk with the chairs of the proposed new departments and with their colleagues to decide where they could be most successful in their careers. We will update the Faculty Senate this week and bring a proposal to the Executive Committee next week. 

Robert Allen, MD, professor of medicine, and his wife Nancy Carroll Allen have committed $1 million for the Robert W. Schrier, MD, Endowed Chair in the Department of Medicine. The gift brings fundraising for the endowed chair more than halfway to the $2.5 million goal. We thank the Allens for their generous ongoing support of the School of Medicine. 

The campus police are reminding pedestrians on campus to use the crosswalks. The CU Anschutz Medical Campus Police Department has a zero-tolerance enforcement policy for motorists failing to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalks. But pedestrians treading across campus should remember that they do not always have the right of way. Outside the crosswalks, vehicles have the right of way. Let’s be careful out there. 

Have a good week,
Richard D. Krugman, MD
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine

"What’s Going On Here" is an email news bulletin from Richard Krugman, MD, Dean of the CU School of Medicine, that is distributed to inform University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty members about issues pertaining to the School’s mission of education, research, clinical care and community service. See the UCH-Insider →

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