HR1344 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1344 LRB100 24225 ALS 43454 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Dr. K. Michael Welch on the occasion of his retirement as President and CEO of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Welch assumed the presidency of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in 2002; and

WHEREAS, Since becoming President of Rosalind Franklin University, Dr. Welch renamed the University and successfully implemented a full institutional assessment that launched a new mission and vision for the school, integrating the education of all health professions with the goal of enhanced delivery of health care into a model of interprofessional education; he oversaw a new era of investment in infrastructure and initiatives that launched a renaissance in education, clinical care, and discovery; he led the rebuilding of the Board of Trustees upon foundational principles of communication, ownership, and accountability and the election of highly-regarded professionals who restored confidence in the governing body; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Welch concentrated on community engagement and service via the Community Care Connection mobile health coach, health screening and education, and mentoring outreach by students and faculty and the student-driven Interprofessional Community Clinic; he also focused on health equity and diversifying the healthcare workforce as a means to improving the health of underserved populations; additionally, he led the initiative on building community and clinical partnerships in the quest for improved health and well being; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Welch supported the development of pipelines and pathways, including the nationally recognized INSPIRE program, the Pre-Matriculation Program, and many other efforts to diversify STEM fields and improve care; he oversaw the construction of new buildings and facilities, including student housing, the Gross Anatomy Lab, the Evaluation Center, a new research wing/BSB, the Morningstar Interprofessional Education Center, the Rothstein Warden Centennial Learning Center, and, opening next summer, the Innovation and Research Park; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Welch championed key investments in simulation technology, which offers students and working health professionals and their institutions training to improve diagnosis and safety; he led the establishment of think tanks for research and advocacy; he supported the establishment of the nationally-recognized Center for Lower Extremity Ambulatory Research at the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine and the Master Teacher Guild; in 2012, he led the successful Centennial Celebration and Scholarship Campaign; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Welch earned his medical degree at the University of Bristol School of Medicine, United Kingdom and came to the United States in the early 1970s; a neurologist and internationally recognized researcher and expert in brain function and structure in cerebrovascular disease, stroke, and migraine, he is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; his career has included appointments in England, Australia, and the United States, the latter including Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit where, as founding chair of the Department of Neurology, he pioneered the use of MRI in studying brain biochemistry; he was the clinician responsible for the overall conduct of the national Institute of Neurological Disorders and the first to establish effectiveness of thrombolysis in acute stroke; he was also the principal investigator of a clinical trial that established statin treatment for secondary stroke prevention; and

WHEREAS, Before his tenure at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Dr. Welch was vice chancellor of research at the University of Kansas Medical Center; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Dr. K. Michael Welch on the occasion of his retirement, thank him for his contributions to the health care field, and wish him the best in all of his future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Dr. Welch as an expression of our esteem and respect.