From Aron’s Desk

Friends, 

Chicagoland had a series of squall lines move through the region on Monday, damaging houses, causing flooding, cancelling flights, and leaving thousands without power, including Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Our engineering, custodial, student, and security staff did a great job keeping us all safe. 

It was a pretty dramatic storm. The wind brought down trees all around us, and the pressure dropped enough that the front door was sucked open, as was the door that connects my office to the courtyard. Rain blew in. We had water in the library and down in engineering. When the power went out, the generators kicked in, but those cannot support everything. To complicate matters, one of the generators seized, so the cafe crew had to bring in dry ice to keep the freezers going. All of the research spaces were supported so all of the -80° freezers and our other essential research infrastructure was well taken care of. 

I want to thank Bob Jackson and his teams for all they did for us. I came in that morning to see folks (my flights to Phoenix to see alumni on Tuesday were cancelled.) They were a bit bleary eyed from fixing equipment and managing the systems through the night, but I know it felt good to get through the worst of it. So, my thanks to our facilities and engineering team headed up by Bob Jackson.

I would especially like to recognize Chief Engineer and Energy Systems Manager Craig Bauer and Electrician Justin Smith for their continuous oversight of essential building systems and critical equipment throughout the outage. Their technical leadership and attention were instrumental in protecting University operations and supporting the safe restoration of building systems once power returned. Steve Kachnowski of the Stone Group deserves special recognition for his excellent after-hours support. Steve maintained watch over essential equipment and assisted with necessary adjustments to the generator power supplies serving the student housing buildings. 

Across the board, the facilities team kept our systems running. My thanks to: Renee Besler, Bill Friedle, Cory Henry, Erik Johnson, Jose Castro, Hector Guifarro, and Edwin Quintanilla.

Our clinics lost power and while the generators there generally held, our team had a watch over the refrigerated medicines and vaccines. We had a full set of clinics scheduled for Tuesday, so our staff came in to work without power in order to reschedule patients. And, our folks also figured out how to take care of patients who came in from Saudi Arabia, Washington DC, and North Carolina to receive care in the reproductive immunology clinic. My thanks to our clinic leader and Vice President for Clinical Services Jeff Espina and the team, including: Mayra Trujillo,  Brian Nicholson, Diana Vasquez, Courtney Humphres, Dr. Kwak-Kim, Leslie McGregor, NP, and Lillia Torishnyak.

I would also like to recognize Bonifacio Garcia and the Harvard Services team for their outstanding response to a major stormwater backup that flooded portions of the BSB's lower level shortly before the power outage. Bonifacio's team worked side by side with Matt Anagnostopoulos and the entire Vivarium team to contain and clean up the water. Without their quick and coordinated response, the resulting damage could have been significantly greater, particularly once the campus lost power.

Vince Butera and Marc Vitello worked through the outage, keeping the food products safe by using dry ice in the walk-in coolers and maintaining the necessary temperatures to preserve our cafe supplies.

My thanks to the security team of Gordon Blanchard, who kept us safe. Starting with Donald Craft's evening shift on Monday, through Aviel Avelar's midnight shift, and Aaron Grossfeld and the day shift Tuesday, Security Officers were busy making adjustments to doors so folks could get in, relaying messages to Engineering staff that came in via email and phone, and responding to calls of branches down and other safety hazards. 

Finally, I want to thank Dean of Students Shelly Brzycki and her team, including Alondra Olvera and Caryn Harris, who distributed emergency lighting to students in housing, which was also without power. Our team had to reschedule the testing center because it is finals week and Alex Warda of our Student Health and Wellness team found ways to keep medications cold when the generator failed. And, that meant that our faculty had to reschedule a whole series of tests including a big anatomy practicum, which had been scheduled for Tuesday.

All of this work happened as people dealt with their own homes and communities, many of which had also lost power. 

We learned a lot over the course of the power outage, including that we need a new generator. And, the biggest lesson is something we already knew - the staff of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science is amazing in talent, fortitude, and dedication. I am delighted to have them as colleagues.

Improving the wellness of all people with you, 

Aron