John Colloton, former UI Health Care executive, dies at age 94

After more than 20 years leading UI Hospitals & Clinics, Colloton stepped away from day-to-day directorship duties in 1993 to become UI vice president for statewide health services. This new role allowed him to focus on health care reform and related health policy issues that affected the university, the state, and academic medicine, in general. Colloton served in this capacity until 2001, when he became director emeritus of UI Hospitals & Clinics.

Throughout his career, Colloton regularly shared his expertise with other major academic medical centers across the nation. He collaborated on health care policy and served on advisory boards at Johns Hopkins, Yale, Duke, among others. He was elected chair of the National Council of Teaching Hospitals in 1979 and named to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1987. In 1988, he became only the second non-physician to serve as chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Colloton also recognized the importance of supporting different areas of the university. He and his wife for 54 years, Mary Ann, who died in 2014, were generous donors to UI Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital, University Libraries, the UI School of Religion, Hancher Auditorium, the UI College of Public Health, medical research and the Medical Education and Research Facility, and various men's and women's athletics programs, among others.