The executive board room at the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus now has a new name – the Dr. John M. and Linda T. Dunn Executive Board Room.
The renaming of the third-floor conference room was made official Tuesday, May 22, during a celebration and unveiling in honor of the Dunns.
“The evening was very, very special, as was the setting and the people who participated, and of course the unveiling of the signage acknowledging not only me, but also, importantly, my wife Linda,” said Dr. Dunn, who retired as president of Western Michigan University in August 2017 and is now a professor emeritus at WMed and president emeritus of WMU.
The naming of the executive board room is in recognition of a significant gift to WMed from the Dunns that was announced in November 2017 during a special donor reception at the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus.
It was Dr. Dunn, through his visionary leadership and relentless passion, who championed the medical school beginning in 2007 and garnered broad support, enthusiasm, and engagement for the new endeavor from the university, Kalamazoo’s two hospitals – Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare -- donors, and the community.
In 2011, WMed was formed through a collaboration of WMU, Borgess Health, and Bronson Healthcare. President Dunn served as the founding Chair of the Board for the medical school.
“We’re very fond of our time here at Western Michigan University and certainly we’re fond and very pleased with the development of the medical school and how it has grown,” Dr. Dunn said.
During Tuesday’s unveiling, Linda Dunn equated the development of the medical school to giving birth to a child and then watching as the institution took its first steps, took on a few scrapes and bruises, grew and matured.
“We’re in a full gallop now and it’s pretty obvious this is a highly successful medical school due primarily to great leadership, faculty, the students who have chosen to come here and, of course, our two outstanding hospital partners, Borgess and Bronson,” Dr. Dunn said.
Dr. Hal Jenson, WMed’s founding dean, expressed gratitude for the Dunns and their continued support of the medical school. He also, on Tuesday, thanked Dr. Dunn for the opportunity he was given in 2011 to take the helm at WMed.
Dr. Dunn said he hopes the glass plaque bearing his and Linda’s names outside the executive board room will remind anyone who sees it of the privilege the Dunns were given “of playing a role in helping to develop the medical school and that all great things happen through the cooperation and support of lots of people.”
“I think that’s what, hopefully, the conversations that occur in the board room will always be about – how can we work together in a positive way to continue our success and make it even better, and continue to think about our aspirations. Our aspirations are high and they should always be high.”
Going forward, Dr. Dunn said he is excited to witness the continued growth of the medical school and its impact on the Kalamazoo community and Southwest Michigan.
“I do like to think that with a little bit of luck I will be alive 20 years from now,” Dr. Dunn said. “To me, it’s going to be fascinating to watch the development of the medical school. I think the next big breakthroughs we’re going to see will be in the areas of research and we have some very, very fine scientists here.
“This medical school was never designed to be just another medical school,” he added. “It was designed to be a very special medical school. It carries a very distinctive name, the Stryker name, so innovation, making sure we’re at the forefront of good research, to me, it’s going to be very exciting to watch that develop.”