Remembering Ben Pardini
Yesterday, the College was diminished in more ways than we can count by the passing of Ben Pardini. Ben exemplified the heart and soul of this great medical school. And perhaps more importantly, Ben was a good guy.
Ben came to The University of Iowa as a post-doctoral fellow, fresh from Loyola University in Chicago. His scholarly interest was in heart-rate variability for determination of autonomic control of the heart in congenital heart disease.
Ben was an outstanding researcher, winning research awards from the NIH, Loyola University, The University of Iowa, and the Shock Society. He could have spent an extremely productive career working with colleagues in our Cardiovascular Research Center but he grew increasingly interested in providing care for children with heart problems. So 15 years after receiving his PhD in physiology, Ben entered our top-ranked Physician Assistant Program.
As a clinician, Ben quickly gained a stellar reputation for his competence and his bedside manner. He linked his research experience with his clinical skills through his participation in clinical trials from 1999 to the present. His peers in the profession recognized his leadership by electing him President of the Iowa Physician Assistant Society last year.
All these accomplishments would be enough for many people, but for Ben, “enough” was only the beginning. Early on, he discovered the joys of teaching and committed himself fully to working with students across the College. His teaching assignments ranged from basic science classes to clinical teaching, and he taught many health science students in other colleges. He was routinely nominated for Teacher of the Year awards within the College and in 2006 he was named faculty director of the Rubin Flocks Learning Community in the College. Outside of the University, he served as a member of the Solon Community School Board.
In today’s modern medical schools, we often worry that the “triple-threat” faculty member is becoming a rare breed. Our field has become so complex and so specialized that it is difficult for anyone to excel in teaching, research and patient care.
To consider the accomplishments of Ben Pardini is to know that there are still those special people who have the drive, the commitment and the intellect to achieve at an extremely high level in all three of our missions.
Yes, our College is diminished with his passing but he provides all of us with an example of how to pursue our activities: with passion, with empathy, and with dedication to those values which bind us together as a community of scholars and healers.
Please join me in extending condolences to his wife, Margaret, and their daughters Emma and Ruth.
