Across a career at the University of Chicago that included 15 years as dean of medical education at the Pritzker School of Medicine, Dr. Holly J. Humphrey helped develop programs in the areas of diversity and inclusion while always emphasizing the importance of professionalism.
“Holly was a principled, values-driven leader who prioritized integrity, people and outcomes equally,” said Dana Levinson, chief program officer at the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation in New York and a longtime colleague. “She maintained the highest standards at all times — not just for what she accomplished but the manner in which those accomplishments were achieved.”
Humphrey, 68, died of pancreatic cancer April 17 while in hospice care at Hinsdale Hospital, said her daughter, Dr. Sarah Follman. She was a resident of Hinsdale.
Born in Edgerton, Wisconsin, Humphrey moved to the Chicago area to attend North Central College in Naperville, where she was named the “Outstanding Senior Woman” and graduated summa cum laude in 1979 with degrees in biology and chemistry.
Humphrey’s decision to attend medical school was rooted in her childhood when she watched her sister, Sally, struggle with complications from Type 1 diabetes. She received her degree from U. of C.’s medical school in 1983 and remained in Hyde Park for a three-year residency in internal medicine. She then undertook a three-year fellowship in pulmonary and critical care.
She then took a job overseeing the university’s internal medicine residency program and working as a professor.
In 1989, the medical school’s dean of students at the time, Norma Wagoner, created the nation’s first white-coat ceremony, a ceremonial event in which incoming medical students promise professionalism in their careers and are given physician coats, a ritual that now has become a commonplace tradition at medical and nursing schools around the globe. Humphrey delivered the keynote address at the inaugural ceremony.
“It is crucial for students entering the profession to understand the fundamental principles on which the profession rests and the values that transcend the interests of individual physicians — all based on the tenet that the needs of patients assume the highest importance,” Humphrey wrote in a reflection about white coat ceremonies for the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation in 2020.
“Likewise, for students to hear faculty publicly make a promise to serve as their guides is a significant commitment,” she wrote. “Students must know that their institutions do not expect them to have a command of these professional frameworks or behaviors on day one, but that they will learn and explore these ideals during their professional journey.”
Colleagues said that Humphrey’s role in that first-ever white coat ceremony speaks to her focus throughout her career on physicians’ professionalism.
“What made Dr. Humphrey so special was (that) she excelled at the art of listening and diagnosing not just as a doctor, but as a leader,” said Dr. Vineet Arora, the Pritzker School of Medicine’s current dean of medical education and one of Humphrey’s former students. “She truly zeroed in on the issue that you might be facing as a learner or faculty member and (was) able to brainstorm with you ways to solve the problem. She instilled in thousands of learners the importance of both taking the high road while also focusing on caring for the most vulnerable.”
In 2003, Humphrey was named dean of medical education at the U. of C.
“Medicine gave her a place to advance the understanding and teaching of illness and treatment,” Humphrey’s daughter said. “She saw it not only as a science, but as a profoundly human endeavor. For her, being a physician and clinician educator was never just a job— it was a privilege, a responsibility and above all, a calling.”
Follman added that her mother was “constantly energized” by the high caliber of those around her — from mentors and collaborators to students and trainees.
“She firmly believed that medical education was the key to building a more compassionate, just and equitable health care system,” Follman said.
In 2018, Humphrey became president of the New York City-based Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, which is a national organization dedicated to improving the education of health professionals, and she began dividing her time between Hinsdale and New York City.
In her work at the Macy Foundation, Humphrey initiated a strategic planning process that produced three priority areas for the group: promoting diversity, equity and belonging, increasing collaboration across future health professionals and preparing future health professionals to learn how to address ethical dilemmas.
“Holly was a truly authentic person and leader, a guiding star for those of us at the Macy Foundation,” said Peter Goodwin, the foundation’s chief operating officer and treasurer. “She demonstrated the patience and kindness to listen to others (and) the willingness and openness to welcome diverse viewpoints, thereby creating an atmosphere through which all could excel.”
Humphrey served on the board of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, including as board chair. Based in Pasadena, California, that medical school graduated its first class of doctors in 2020.
“Holly transformed medical education in the U.S.,” said Mark Schuster, founding dean and former CEO of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. “She was one of the most remarkable, brilliant, generous and deeply empathic people I have known, and as board chair, she endlessly championed our new medical school.”
Humphrey also was elected in 2020 to the National Academy of Medicine, which is one of the highest honors in her field.
In addition to her daughter, Humphrey is survived by her husband of 42 years, Dr. Duane Follman; a son, Dr. Benjamin Follman; a daughter, Hannah; and two brothers, Philip and Richard Humphrey.
A memorial service will take place at 10 a.m. Friday at Christ Church of Oak Brook, 501 Oak Brook Road, Oak Brook.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
