Eddington appointed dean of graduate college
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Richard and Loan Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering Professor David Eddington has been appointed dean of the UIC Graduate College. Eddington will retain his professorship; however, most of his time will be dedicated to his new position.
Eddington was the director of graduate studies for the biomedical engineering department for 10 years, from 2011 to 2021. He has also served on the university bargaining team for the graduate employee organization (GEO) and Graduate College’s executive committee. Through the executive committee, Eddington and his colleagues worked to improve the mentoring experience at UIC and provide safeguards for students.
“We’re trying to help nurture faculty and develop healthy relationships between students and faculty,” Eddington said. “This work has been rewarding to contribute to those conversations that have implications campus-wide and through the bargaining table. Hearing directly from the GEO members on issues they were facing and ways the university could better support them was very enlightening. The graduate student union negotiations were complicated, but they have an important role in pushing the university in the right direction.”
He has also served as a member of the executive committee for UIC PREP, an NIH-funded postbaccalaureate program that provides opportunities for individuals from groups underrepresented in biomedical sciences to get additional research experience before applying to PhD or dual degree programs.
Through his new role, Eddington hopes to enhance graduate student success, increase applications to external fellowships, increase diversity in graduate program applications, and expedite the application process and digitization of degree audits.
“Our students are unique and come from interesting backgrounds, making them competitive for these fellowships,” he said. “I want to develop a culture that as part of students’ graduate education when they’re eligible to apply, they apply to these programs because it helps the student.”
Eddington noted that he has enjoyed teaching, and it has been a rewarding experience. In particular, he has been teaching Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, interacting with enthusiastic students when they first joined the program. He has also enjoyed working with his biomedical engineering colleagues to improve the department and student experience.
Professor Eddington received his master of science degree and doctorate degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.