Maureen Richards Named Asst. Dean for Medical Education and Evaluation
Maureen Richards, PhD
Maureen H. Richards, PhD, is the new assistant dean for medical education and evaluation at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford.
In this role, Richards will oversee curriculum development, instruction and faculty development for the Doctor of Medicine Program.
Richards was previously an assistant professor in the Department of Microbial Pathogens and Immunity at Rush Medical College in Chicago, where she had taken on leadership roles for the department as a course director, discipline director, a team director for session activity design, chair of a program design subcommittee and vice chair of a pre-clerkship workgroup. In addition, she has served as a member of the Committee on Student Evaluation and Promotion and the Committee on Admissions, as well as serving on work groups focused on assessment and evaluation, objectives and pedagogy.
An advocate for student-centered learning, Richards received Rush’s 2019 Daniel Brainard Award for Teaching Excellence for outstanding ability, dedicated service and teaching in the basic and behavioral sciences and the 2017 SCORE Positive Learning Environment Award.
Richards received a bachelor’s degree in biology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and her doctorate in microbiology and immunology from Northwestern University. Richards then became an instructor and researcher in the Rush Graduate College where she received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health and several young investigator awards for her work on neurovirology and neuroimmune pharmacology.
“Dr. Richards brings a passion for finding creative solutions for medical education and we are pleased to welcome her and her insights into training this next generation of physicians,” says Alex Stagnaro-Green, MD, MHPE, MHA, dean of the College of Medicine Rockford.
Richards fills the position left open after the retirement of Connie Vitali, MD. Contact her at mhr@uic.edu or (815) 395-5940 in Room A246 at the UIC Health Sciences Campus-Rockford, 1601 Parkview Ave.