In announcing his new role, Dr. Deborah German, UCF vice president of medical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, noted that Dr. Balkwill’s previous teaching and leadership experience will prepare him for the job of overseeing and mentoring medical education faculty members.
“It is indeed a pleasure to appoint Dr. Balkwill to this leadership position within the college,” Dr. German said. “He understands the faculty’s needs and will be a terrific ombudsman.”
Dr. Balkwill joined the college in 2009 as a professor and co-director of the HB-3 module after serving as a Distinguished Research Professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Florida State University.
He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from The Pennsylvania State University and was a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire for five years before joining FSU in 1982. Dr. Balkwill has more than 90 publications and 72 abstracts and has mentored 15 graduate students, 4 post-doctoral fellows, and over 60 undergraduate students.
He has been recognized with teaching awards at all of his previous universities and last year received the Award for Dedication from the UCF College of Medicine’s charter class.