The Heersink School of Medicine honored the achievements of 8 esteemed faculty members during the Fall 2024 Endowed Chairs and Professorships Reception, held Oct. 29 at the Wallace Tumor Institute. Families, faculty, and leaders of the Heersink School of Medicine joined the honorees to celebrate their outstanding contributions to medical education and research. Anupam Agarwal, M.D., dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, opened the event by welcoming guests and recognizing the significance of these prestigious appointments.
The reception celebrated the faculty members and honored the donors whose generosity made these endowed chairs and professorships possible. By establishing endowed positions, donors forge lasting connections to the university, often directing their gifts to areas of personal importance. These endowed roles can support a discipline that has inspired them, fund scholarships or fellowships for deserving students, or advance medical research that aligns with their values and interests.
Endowed positions provide critical resources for faculty, fueling their research, teaching, and professional development. They offer funding for laboratory operations, student involvement, and travel to conferences that encourage collaboration and innovation within and beyond the university. Appointment to an endowed chair or professorship is one of the highest honors a faculty member can achieve signifying recognition of their impactful work.
The faculty honorees recognized include the following:
Jake Y. Chen, Ph.D.
Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Triton Endowed Professorship of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Peter Hendricks, Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology
Heersink Endowed Chair in Psychiatry
Shinichi Kano, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology
UAB Endowed Professorship in Mental Health Research
Brian Samuels, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
EyeSight Foundation of Alabama Endowed Chair of Ophthalmology
Gang Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Medicine
Moon H. Nahm, M.D., Endowed Chair
James Michael (Mike) Wells, M.D., MSPH
Department of Medicine
Endowed Professorship in Airway Biology
Paul D. Gamlin, Ph.D.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
White-McKee Endowed Professorship of Ophthalmology
Karin M. Hardiman, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Surgery
Strange Family Endowed Professorship in Surgical Sciences Research