Messages to Dean Jenson

I couldn't imagine the level of detail needed to start a medical school! Thank you for all the 20-hour days to get this organization off the ground - your legacy will live on!

Thank you for your leadership and support. I am fortunate to start in WMed while you are still Dean and grateful to have been promoted under your guidance. We wish you good luck and happy retirement.

Thanks for providing me with job security and for helping empty the candy bowl. I hope you have a great retirement spent with the people you love doing the things you enjoy.

Congratulations on your retirement!

Dean Jenson: Thank you so much for 10 years as the founding dean of WMed. Your leadership has made it a remarkable success. The best of luck to you!

Thank you, Dean Jenson, it has been an honor working for you.

Dean Jenson, your direct guidance, focused but fair critique, and support with standing up the WMed ForenTox joint venture help to make the vison of a nationally certified toxicology laboratory a reality. Thanks for your confidence and the opportunity to work with you.

Enjoy your next season in life!

Thank you for all your efforts in this amazing undertaking that is WMed.

Congratulations and all the best moving forward Dr. Jenson!

Enjoy retirement Hal! Thank you for your amazing leadership. We will miss you!

Congratulations!

Dear Hal, thank you so much for everything you have done to and for WMed and our corner of the world. Your impact is a cornerstone to everything you built. Congratulations and warmest wishes for a well-deserved retirement!

On behalf of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Medicine and the Office of Faculty Affairs thank you for all your support and advocacy.

Congratulations on ALL that you have accomplished and inspired at WMed over this past decade!

It has been an honor to work with you and to get to know you. We have had the wonderful opportunity to help in creating your life legacy here for Kalamazoo and to help in developing the future of our profession. Thank you for everything you have done for us both professionally and personally.

We so appreciate WMed and our partnership with you!

Thank you for your vision, dedication and efforts to initiate and grow a fine medical school in this community.

Congratulations on the start of a new adventure!

Congratulations on 10 years of incredible work. You have left an amazing legacy.

Congratulations and thank you for all that you have done for the Medical School and the greater Kalamazoo area.

Enjoy retirement and tackling the rest of your bucket list!

Congrats on your retirement!

Congratulations on a phenomenal 10 years and thank you for all that you and the WMed team have accomplished for our community! All best wishes.

Thank you for all the personal and professional support you have provided to us!

Congratulations on your retirement in 2021. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to founding an excellent medical school that is WMed.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to join this amazing organization. I wish you great happiness in the next phase of your life! Congratulations!

Robert Pulito, Mary Jo Olenick, and SLAM collectively would like to congratulate Dean Jenson for his courage and skill on launching the spaceship that is a new medical school.

Thank you, Dean Jenson, for giving me an opportunity to work for WMed under my mentor and friend Dr. Thomas Rothstein. It was a great honor working for you and the entire WMed community. Wish you nothing but great things as you venture into the next phase of your legacy. Congrats and thank you again, Dean Jenson.

Thank you for your tireless dedication and hard work to make WMed what it is today

Congratulations on reaching this milestone! Thank you for your leadership, guidance, and for taking a chance on me over the years. Enjoy the next adventure - you will be missed!

AVB appreciates your significant contributions to our community. Thank you!

Hal, you did it! You brought the school from idea to implementation. We have so much to be proud of, and we couldn't have done it without you. Thanks for taking this on and seeing it through. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement.

Dean Jenson, Thank you for serving as the first Dean of WMed School. You have done a fantastic job in getting the program up and off the ground and making it available to so many students with a diverse background.

Thank you, Dean Jenson. All the best to you in your next endeavors.

Thank you for your partnership.

Hal, congratulations on an incredible 10 years. You have created an amazing medical school, and we are all proud to be part of WMed. You have certainly earned a wonderful retirement. Enjoy your adventures!

Hal, all the best for your retirement and congratulations on your many accomplishments. Enjoy!

Hal, all the best for your retirement and congratulations on your many accomplishments. Enjoy!

Dean Jenson, thank you for your leadership at WMed, and happy retirement!

We wish you a long, healthy, and happy retirement! Congratulations, now the fun begins.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the growth of WMed.

Congratulations on your retirement and best wishes for your adventurous new beginnings.

Hal: you have achieved so much in the past ten years... brought up a brand new medical school from the ground up; created new programs and sites that are too many to mention; and created a strong foundation for the upcoming years for the medical school and for Kalamazoo. Thank you always for your support and caring. I wish you only the best in your retirement years and will miss that bright smile of yours.

Congratulations on your retirement!

Your leadership will be missed in Kalamazoo, and the healthcare community. Thank you for fulfilling your CLEAR vision in SW Michigan.

We're happy to support this worthwhile effort and value our relationship with WMed.

Sending my admiration for starting a wonderful medical school from scratch!

Dear Dr. Jenson, Thank you for building a vibrant medical school community that fosters both student and faculty growth. You have always challenged us, but these challenges have forced us to innovate and develop in ways that truly allow us to make meaningful contributions to the community in Southwest Michigan and beyond! You will be missed, but you also always have a home in Kalamazoo. Thank you for everything.

Congratulations on a decade of committed leadership. You have made a tremendous impact.

We are grateful for your incredible legacy and wish you a wonderful retirement on behalf of the WMU Alumni Association!

Thank you for all of your great work.

Congratulations on your retirement. Wishing you health, happiness, and many more exciting adventures. Working under your leadership has been an honor and a pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity.

The Explorers are excited to support this amazing event!

Dean Jenson: Congratulations on being a successful “Founding Dean” and providing the vision and drive to make the WMU School of Medicine a reality. We were with you at the inception and know how enormous this task was. You have made an indelible mark on the community, the University, and the lives of every physician who will ever train at WMed. Good luck with all your future activities.

Congratulations on your retirement and founding an amazing medical school!!

Congratulations on your retirement, and thank you for your guidance in bringing the Medical School into a reality.

Hal: It has been a pleasure to work with you and learn from you. I appreciate you placing your trust in me as a faculty member and as the Research Integrity Officer. I wish you the best in your retirement and all of the adventures to follow.

Thank you for your leadership and dedication to making WMed a success! Best wishes on your retirement!

Thank you so much for all you've done at this school! It's such a privilege to be a student here.

Thank you!

It's been a pleasure to work with you. Your trust and support in the IT department was greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for the great opportunity!

Congratulations Dean Jenson! Wishing you all the very best for the coming years.

Congratulations!

Dean Jenson, congratulations on your retirement! Thank you for your support and partnership.

Dr. Jenson, I want to wish you the best of life on your next journey.

It's been a ride :) … we will all miss you … keep in touch!

Dean Jenson, I just want to say THANK YOU for the continued partnership throughout the past 6-7 years! It was a privilege to work with you and an honor to play a minor role in helping you build this wonderful team at WMed! I wish you much success and happiness with whatever your next chapter might bring.

Thank you for your leadership in building WMed. It has been an honor to work alongside you to bring a medical school to my alma mater. I wish you and your family all of God’s blessings in your retirement.

Thank you for your wonderful dedication to WMed over the past 10 years. We are off to a great start! Sending well wishes to you on your next adventure!

On to the next journey! Enjoy!

On behalf of the staff of WMed, I’m honored to pay tribute to you, Dr. Jenson, and your steadfast leadership during our first ten years. In 2011 you took on the enormous task, as the Founding Dean of WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, of building the strong foundation of our medical school. Step by step, success after success, all of which became the building blocks that will continue to hold the past, the present, and the future for many aspiring physicians. Today, as we commemorate your successes and celebrate your retirement, we reflect on YOU. You have “graduated” the classes of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. You have started new programs and brought new ventures to the medical school that are too numerous to list in this speech. Numerous meetings (too many to count!), problems to solve, new projects brought to fruition, and unforgettable moments that now bring you to a (this virtual) standing ovation. Your responsibilities have been huge; and your impact and work far-reaching and enduring. As a physician, you had great power but as the “Founding Dean” of WMed you became a different kind of leader. You influenced great change for our community, for our faculty, our staff, our residents and fellows, our medical students, and our affiliated physicians and leaders. You had a plan. Along the way in bringing your plans to fruition there were stormy and peaceful seas to surf. A big job. You have set a standard for all of us to build upon. “It is one thing to be a boss, another to be a mentor. A completely different thing to be a leader.” We are proud to have been led by a boss, mentor, and a leader like you. Thank you, Dr. Jenson. “Retirement is not the end of the road. It is the beginning of the open highway.” Enjoy time with your family and friends; doing the things that bring you joy; and writing your life story!

Thank you for your strong leadership in the first 10 years of this incredible medical school!

Thank you for your service, dedication, and promotion of ideas.

Congratulations! It has been wonderful having you with us for our first 10 years! Thank you!!

Congratulations on your retirement!

Thank you for your many efforts!

Congrats on a great 10 years.

Thank you for your leadership and service!

Thank you for successfully navigating us through the first 10 years.

Sir, I have no comprehension of what your duties have been that brought the WMU Medical School through this first decade. However, living in Kalamazoo and having had a brief tour of the facility two years ago when my niece visited from Okinawa I can tell you I am very proud of what you have accomplished . My niece, , who at the time was a nursing student in Tokyo, , is now a surgical nurse . She and I were both very impressed with the amazing things we saw during our tour. So thank you for all you have done to make WMU Medical School the marvelous facility that it is.

Congratulations on 10 years at WMU Medical School CD from an Alumnus of WMU

Congratulations on your stellar achievements at the medical school!

Thank you for your vision, leadership and generosity.

Congratulations on your retirement! Thank you for your service and leadership.

Congratulations and thank you!

Thank you for all you have done for WMed! We will keep striving to provide the best education possible for our learners.

We hope to see you via Zoom. Congratulations! Will write soon.

Congratulations on your retirement and thank you for bringing this to Kalamazoo. From a 43 year employee at Borgess and his 40+ year RN wife.

Congratulations on your retirement!

Enjoy your next adventure!!

May the next 10 years be as successful as the first 10 years!

Thank you for all the hard work with the program.

Congratulations on a job well done! We are excited about the continued success of WMed for the next decade!

Congrats on your retirement.

Thank you so much for your dedication and service, making WMU a better place!

Well done, Dean Jenson. The legacy of the beginnings of such an impactful project will live on forever.

Congrats on your achievements, Hal! Enjoy retirement!!

To the founding Dean Dr. Jenson, On behalf of the faculty, the Faculty Academic Council would like to formally recognize and thank you for your exceptional dedication to Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine. Your vision, leadership and commitment to excellence has made our school the resounding success it is today. Undoubtedly there are innumerable achievements directly attributable to your tireless efforts and attention to detail. We thank you for all you have done and wish you only the best on your adventures yet to come.

Congratulations and best wishes!

You’ve made a productive impact on the field of medicine. Thank you for pushing the field of medicine forward.

Congratulations Hal! We will miss you and Cyndi, but wish you both the best in your future life together. I am sure you will go on many wonderful and memorable trips!

Thank you for building this amazing medical school community. Congratulations and best wishes.

Dr. Jenson, at the end of our careers the only thing we take with us are the memories and pleasure of the impact we have made. The impact that you have made in Kalamazoo, the region and the nation will last many generations. I am proud to know you. Enjoy your retirement and have fun! Gracias.

Thank you for your years of service to the Medical School as well as our community!

Thank you for your steadfast support of the Simulation Center and for giving us the latitude to innovate, design and develop this exceptional educational resource. Enjoy the next phase of your life!

Dr. Jenson: It has been a genuine pleasure to work with and for you during the last seven years. I treasure the small role I have had in assisting you to establish this new medical school. You leave behind a legacy of a vibrant and thriving medical school, developed by you under challenging circumstances. I wish you and your entire family well in your deserved retirement.

Congratulations Dean Jenson on your retirement and thank you for your commitment and vision for WMed over the past decade.