Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital

Hallym University has decided to award an honorary doctoral degree in philosophy on Dr. Gerald D. Fischbach, name-endowed professor and dean emeritus of the faculty of medicine at Columbia University, on August 11. An honorary doctorate presentation will take place at the International Conference Room of Hallym University in Chuncheon with a total of 120 participants attending. At the end of the ceremony, he will give a lecture on "Great Issues in Biomedical Research."

For a long time, Hallym has appreciated the integrity, knowledge and enthusiasm of the professor who has done so much in advancing life science for all mankind, and helping shape the relationship between Columbia and Hallym.

Dr. Fischbach and Dr. Ruth L. Fischbach, his wife, who is Director of the Bioethics Center and Professor of Bioethics at Columbia University, are visiting Korea from August 10 to 13. During their stay in Korea, they will visit Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, and the Ilsong Institute of Life Sciences in Anyang. They will meet members of the board of the trustees of the Ilsong Educational Foundation at a dinner on August 11. Dr. Gerald Fischbach will be interviewed by the JoongAng Ilbo on autism, ADHD, and neuroscience on Tuesday morning.

Dr. Fischbach served as Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences, and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia. As a scholar and administrator, he has taken on key posts at the societies and institutions in the U.S. including the National Academy of Sciences(NAS), the National Institutes of Health(NIH), and the Society for Neuroscience.

During his service at Columbia as Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Fischbach met Chairman Dai-Won Yoon of the Board of Trustees of the Ilsong Educational Foundation in New York and tapped the possibility of the two-way cooperation between Columbia and Hallym. In 2002, the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia and Hallym University sign an affiliation agreement.

Since then, the two institutions have successfully carried out collaborative projects including six international academic symposiums in Seoul and New York, and exchange of faculty members of both institutions.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ruth L. Fischbach will deliver a lecture on "Informed Consent in Medical Research" in the afternoon at the International Conference Room of Hallym University on August 11. She has given her life to awakening the people to a sense of ethics in medical and social bioethics. Since 2002, she has been serving as Director of the Bioethics Center and Professor of Bioethics at Columbia University.

By Younghee Han, Int'l Operations Team, HUMC