As the College of Health Sciences celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, Dr. William E. Cullinan, dean of the college, reflects on the strong, longstanding culture of innovation backed by collaboration.

"I've always encouraged people to be limited only by their imagination," Cullinan says.

Led by inaugural dean Dr. Jack C. Brooks, the college was launched in 1996 out of a university-wide reorganization that brought together departments related to human sciences, including basic health sciences, dental hygiene, physical therapy, speech pathology and audiology and medical laboratory technology. The college also launched new programs such as biomedical sciences, physician assistant studies, exercise physiology, athletic training and occupational therapy.

The results have been staggering: four nationally-ranked programs, thousands of patients served in pro-bono and reduced cost clinics, continuous growth in undergraduate enrollment and over 10,000 mission-driven graduates across all majors and professional programs.

All of those feats have been made possible because of the faculty and staff's dedicated and inspired belief in the college's goals and vision, Cullinan says.

"The amount of belief is proportional to the amount of contact one has with students," Cullinan says. "Students energize the people in this building. Faculty members give pieces of themselves to the cause because they see the direct benefit and the exceptional experiences students have as a result. I see it every day in the classroom. I see it with faculty coming in for recruiting events on the weekend. There are always people in this building moving our college forward to sustain our positive momentum."

A culture of collaboration

The buy-in wasn't always clear and obvious. There was a distinct lack of collaboration between departments prior to college being founded and it took time to grow as a cohesive college, says Dr. Lawrence Pan, professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Physical Therapy for 22 years. He says the efforts to collaborate have evolved drastically for the better over 30 years.

"Jack and Bill both let us run our own departments without operational interference because they knew we were the experts on our profession," Pan says. "I think that level of independence was important as the college grew because it let us explore what our students needed. We had freedom and were encouraged to approach other departments to achieve that common goal of student education."

Biomedical Sciences Program Coordinator Diane Novotny, H Sci '04, says college leadership has always given faculty members the go-ahead to think differently and to take challenges and small failures as learning experiences.

"Our culture is different in that I don't think faculty are afraid of trying new things," Novotny says. "That fearlessness is seen by our students, and they begin to embody that in their own lives and studies. It's awesome to see."

Starting in 2007, Cullinan initiated the college's convocation at the beginning of every school year to bring the college's faculty and staff together and become one another's biggest advocates.

"Interprofessional education has become the standard for clinical programs, and I really wanted to embody that in our college," Cullinan says. "Because of that effort, we've fostered a mindset in the college that collaborative work begets innovation and leads to inspirational stories in research labs, clinical settings and service work from faculty and students."

Pan has stepped back from his role in the college since his retirement in 2018, but still finds himself drawn to the college - not just because he's a patient at the Physical Therapy Clinic now instead of an administrator, he jokes - but because of what he helped maintain here.

"I like to sit in the back during seminars and soak in the culture that has persisted," Pan says. "The culture was set well before I became chair, but when I assumed that role, we only had eight or nine people in our department. Now we've nearly tripled in size and that culture is still apparent."

Filling the gaps through innovation

The College of Health Sciences has a knack for producing doers. When there's a space that needs to be filled, there's always someone to fill it.

When people with brain and spinal cord injuries need an advanced, thorough rehabilitation clinic, faculty members step up and operate the Neuro Recovery Clinic.

When students are struggling to understand the complex 3D structures of human anatomy, professors develop simulations utilizing virtual reality to give students "hands-on experiences" with those structures.

When the region is in desperate need of a program to treat chronic aphasia, faculty members provide gold-standard therapy to help them regain their voice.

The gaps always get filled.

"Everywhere you look in this college, the level of creativity is astonishing," Cullinan says. "There are faculty and students at the forefront of their specialties in a way that others don't necessarily always think of Marquette or any other Jesuit institution."

"Whether you're helping students or patients or producing research, there's going to be effects downstream," Novotny says. "The idea of doing something bigger and greater is very powerful and rewarding."

Faculty members across the college are engaged in service work and showcase that their careers in health care can and should expand beyond the four walls of a hospital or a lab. And if Health Sciences students identify a gap in the community's opportunities for care, they oftentimes are the first ones to step up and fill it.

"So many institutional Marquette service groups have been started by students from this college," Cullinan says. "The Backpack Program was started by a Physical Therapy student. Biomedical sciences students started Global Brigades and Mardi Gras.

"If we don't provide adequate service opportunities for students, they'll invent them," he says.

With all the amazing things happening in his college, Cullinan says he has the privilege of watching it all unfold and directing praise where it's deserved.

"When it comes to the success of this college, I've encouraged faculty to dream big and then I get out of their way, which is sometimes the hardest thing to do," Cullinan says. "But we have had some amazingly talented people work here over the past 30 years who are capable of amazing things. "I have to pinch myself to remember how lucky we are as a college."