Transcript Deleatrice (Dee) Alexander    By Day - I have been working at the UIC since 1990...initially in the College of Pharmacy with Dr.

Deleatrice (Dee) Alexander



By Day - I have been working at the UIC since 1990...initially
in the College of Pharmacy with Dr. Norman Farnsworth and
Harry Fong in PCRPS for about three years. Afterwards I
worked with Dr. Antonio Scommegna who was the Chair and
Department Head of Ob/Gyne...after he retired I transferred
to OVCR in the Department of Office of Technology
Management working with Jill Tarzian Sorensen. I am in
OVCR in the Office of Research Services at the front
desk....so I am the first person you will meet. Some may
think that this position is solely a receptionist position, but it is
hardly that. I am a people person and in this role there is
great emphasis on customer service, organization and
communication skills. I am responsible for intake of
paperwork to be reviewed by budget reviewers for
processing grants and contracts. Deadline periods are
stressful, but I manage it in stride!!!!
By Night - While holding down a full time position here at
UIC, I am also a performing artist. I took part in the
Millennium Park series of "Home Cooked Jazz" on Sep 11
performing a tribute to Nina Simone and Dinah Washington. I
am also a member of the AACM Chicago ChapterAssociation for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
which is an organization dedicated to creating, developing,
composing, nurturing and performing original music. I have
two groups "Dee Alexander Quartet and the Evolution
Ensemble, but have also performed with various artists such
as Orbert Davis, Nicole Mitchell, AACM's Great Black Music
Ensemble, Inventions, Ernest Dawkins' Chicago 12, just to
name a few. In November, I performed in Poznan, Poland
with a group of performing artists in a series called "Made in
Chicago" which was sponsored by the Jazz Institute of
Chicago. I am currently working on a CD project
collaborating with Miguel dela Cerna, which should be
released by this summer. I was selected as the 2007
Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz and won the 2008 Chicago
Jazz Entertainer of the year at the Chicago Music Awards.
Kary Raines

Kary Raines currently serves as Associate Director for Facilities
Management and Director of Hospital Environmental Services at
the University of Illinois Hospital. This is one of the largest
departments within the Medical Center where he supervises over
190 employees. He has been employed with the University of
Illinois at Chicago since 1974. He has provided over 33 years of
dedicated service. We spotlight Kary because he demonstrates
how hard

work and a good work ethic can pay off. Kary started as a part-time
employee in the Food Services Department as a Food Service
Laborer. He worked there for over three years. He decided to
transfer to the Hospital Housekeeping Department in 1978. In the
Housekeeping Department he was able to advance through the
ranks with continuous promotions consisting of the following titles;
Hospital Service Worker, Hospital Service Foreman, Hospital
Service Supervisor, Assistant Executive Housekeeper,
Departmental Information Supervisor, Health Center Administrator,
Assistant Superintendent Building Services and Superintendent of
Building Services.

Kary has been employed at UIC his entire work history. He states,
“There is always opportunity to succeed as long as you keep an
open mind to reach the goals that you set for yourself.” He is a
people person and states that he will never ask any employee
under his supervision to do something that he won’t do. “In the
housekeeping business, you’re a lawyer, a counselor, a psychiatrist
and a manager.”


Kary has worked hard and earned many awards for dedication to
his department and UIC including the Class Act Award in 2006,
while continuing to earn a BA degree in Business
Administration. He has enhanced his education by earning the
designation of Certified Healthcare Environmental Services
Professional (CHESP). The CHESP is a national credential that
distinguishes an individual as being among the elite in the critical
field of healthcare management. He has also completed the
education requirements for a Registered Executive Housekeeper
which is the highest designation offered by the International
Executive Housekeepers Associations, Inc. Kary manages his
investment properties after work and on weekends. His goal is to
one day make this his daily business. Kary resides in Westchester,
IL with his wife and twin children Donovon and Diana.
Carl C. Bell, M.D.






MEE Prod Inc. photo
Dr. Carl Bell serves as Director of Public Health and Community
Psychiatry and is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Public
Health. He was recruited to UIC in 1983. He is President/CEO
of the Community Mental Health Council Foundation, a
community-based organization providing comprehensive mental
health services to the Chicago metropolitan area.
His contribution to the African American community through his
work in Public Health and Community Psychiatry is impressive.
For more than 35 years, he has worked tirelessly as a mental
health advocate for the African American Community.
Throughout his career, he has worked to provide mental health
services to the local community and shape policy decisions at
the federal and local levels. “One thing that I would say about
my tenure at UIC is that by being involved with the academic
research at UIC, because I am also deeply on the community
service side, I have been able to transport the research we have
done at UIC directly into the community as I take research and
apply it in the real world of service. I have taken several UIC
research products and moved them into the real world a la HIV
prevention in South Africa, Violence Prevention in Chicago
Public Schools and soon to do work in New Orleans.”
In addition, he is a national leader in Mental Health and
Community Psychiatric research. Listed in Who’s Who Among
Black Americans, Dr. Bell has published more than 375 articles
on mental health issues involving women, children and the
African American community. He has received numerous
honors and awards and was appointed to the Chicago Board of
Health in 2002 by Mayor Richard M. Daley. More recently, Dr.
Bell was appointed to the National Institute of Mental Health
National Mental Health Advisory and he served as an
International Fellow - Institute of Philosophy, Diversity, and
Mental Health, Center for Ethnicity and Health, Faculty of
Health, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United
Kingdom, 2007.
John C. Nash, C.D.T.

John C. Nash is a board certified dental lab technician. He is a
1980 graduate of Triton College where he received an A.S. degree
in dental laboratory technology. John has been with the College of
Dentistry since 1980. In 1984 he joined the UIC Craniofacial
Center where he presently serves in the Maxillofacial Prosthetics
Clinic as Chief Dental Technician.


In 1988, John received a certificate of completion in dental
implantology construction from Northwestern College of Dentistry.
Through his position in the Maxillofacial Prosthetics Clinic, John is
responsible for the oral prosthetic reconstruction of the mouths
and faces of patients. Many of the patients have had radical
surgery because of mouth or head cancer, an accident, or are born
with developmental deformities of the mouth or skull.


Because of his unique and interesting work, John serves as
ambassador for both the UIC Medical Center and College of
Dentistry. He routinely speaks to students and hosts’ students and
interns in his lab. Student’s eyes light up when they hear his
stories and see his work. He is one of few African Americans
engaged in this line of work and he is a tireless motivator to our
African American community. This year the National Board for
Certification in Dental Laboratory Technology recognized John
Nash for his 25 years as a Certified Dental Technician.


In his leisure time, John enjoys carpentry and gardening growing
vegetables and perennial bulbs. John has been married for 27
years and has a daughter who is a sophomore at UIUC and a son
who is a senior in high school. John is truly a clinical artist whose
work is exhibited in the faces of his patients. He is making Black
History at UIC every day.
Joseph Day, MA


I had no great awaking to the ideas of public health; only the
vague feeling of things not being right in my community and in
the world. To this was added a growing awareness that there
seemed to be a relationship between the number of young men
in the Austin neighborhood wearing white T-shirts standing on
corners at midday and the rising levels of the world’s oceans. It
seems to me that though we are all connected, this connection is
not equally felt and that the gifts we bring are not always
recognized or used. Public health has
offered me an integrated and holistic approach to examine and, I
hope, ultimately to address problems affecting the US population
at large and minority groups in particular. One group in
particular, African American men, are at the greatest risk for
morbidity/mortality related to some of these public health
problems and yet this group is one of the least studied. Without
gaining a greater understanding, we will continue to see African
American males become data points in the ever-growing body of
statistics we have come to know as the health disparities crisis
that is affecting our nation. These disparities affect us all in that
we, as a nation, pay financially, socially and above all morally if
we fail to address this ever growing problem.



I am currently a DrPH student in the Community Health Sciences
Division in the School of Public Health. My background includes
a BA and MA in psychology. I was awarded the 2007 Amuwo
Minority Fellowship and was recently awarded an NIH Minority
Supplemental Grant that will examine the recruitment and
retention of African American and Hispanic males as research
participants into a diabetes self-management study. Additionally,
I am currently involved in a study examining the impact of social
emotional learning in Chicago Public Schools. Previously, I have
worked on projects related to homelessness, substance abuse
and the relationship between incarceration and HIV infection
rates in certain Chicago communities.
George Edward Manning, II













Just prior to high school George’s Mother Jamesia and Father, George “the first” were
discussing George’s Oedipal issues to decide whether George II would stay at home with mother
or go with his father on a loooooooooong train ride to God only knows! It was decided that
George would go with his father. George became the “pillow boy” on a
train trip to the east that
his father had helped to organize …. After three days and lots of pillows they arrived. Once
there, George Jr.’s question, “Is it time to go home, yet” was answered with a kiss and the
words, ”Not yet, baby…we just got here.” Walking several blocks they reached their destination
with thousands and thousands of other individuals. During one of the speeches George Jr.
shared with his father that the speech was redundant, saying, “The speaker has said, ‘I Have a
Dream’ at least ten times, already!” To that George’s father said, listen for both of us (George
senior was deaf – but read lips). This might be a very important speech one day”. The event
was the March on Washington. The speaker was of course, Dr. Martin Luther King. George’s
father was always right!
A day in the life of this classically trained (violin, viola, pipe organ, harpsichord in addition to
piano musician) troubleshooter at the UIC SPHPI (School of Public Health / Psychiatric Institute)
facility can range from participation as an appointed (by Mayor Richard M. Daley) former full
member and chair of the Public Services Sub Committee of the Chicago Community
Development Advisory Committee to solving PI flooding and construction problems. As a
Department of Psychiatry administrator (Director of Research Surveillance; Director of
Community Relations, Consumer Groups, and Special Events; and Project Coordinator of
Educational, Research and Clinical Services), George, who prefers to be called by his first name,
divides a major portion of his time between research and development meetings at West Side
Veteran’s, civic meetings, construction meetings, UIC research meetings, building issues, fund
raisers, and issues of mental health consumer and advocacy groups.
His work ethic and creativity have been awarded the State of Illinois “Employee of the Year
Award” three times while working for the historically renowned ISPI (Illinois State Psychiatric
Institute). Today, the Institute has been transferred to the University of Illinois and renamed
“The Psychiatric Institute.
Two interesting facts about George that may not be known by even those who see him daily are
that he is knowledgeable in the Russian language and that he teaches ballroom dancing. Every
four years George presents 40 young Chicagoland scholars in a gala Scholarship Cotillion at the
Grand Ballroom of the Chicago Hilton and Towers. Over the past 25 years he has witnessed 90
per cent of his Cotillion Kids (250) to successfully go on and compete and complete college
degrees and land impressive jobs.
Not only is George an accomplished musician- performer (he has a grand piano in his UIC office
and 4 grand pianos at home), he is also a composer/director. He has played for 3 US
Presidents (especially fond of being organist of choice for two Habitat for Humanity convocations
for President Jimmy Carter). He is the founder and president or member of several Chicagoland
neighborhood associations (e.g. The Austin Schock Historical Association and The Society of
Midway Park). George is passionately involved in the preservation of architectural and historic
landmarks and often lectures and participates on panels on the subject. George’s own (singlehandedly) restored 18-room Victorian home complete with third floor ballroom has been named a
Chicago Historical landmark by the Chicago Commission on Architectural and Historical
Landmarks. The home has been featured on Oprah and in numerous periodicals.
George has worked for YMCA International / Peace Corps and lived abroad for over 40 years
and has traveled to countries in Central America, South America, Europe, the UK, and
Africa. He maintains that we speak “one” language – “Friendship”. As most know, George
always ends his talks, speeches, presentations, chats with humor or a memorable quote, and to
the readers he would like to say: “Remember Kindness—a language deaf people can hear and
the blind can see” (in their later years, his father was deaf and his mother legally blind).