Annual Veterans Day Recognition 2024

Katherine Baicker serves as the 15th Provost of the University of Chicago.

As Provost, she is responsible for academic and research programs across the University and oversees the University’s budget.

A leading scholar in the economic analysis of health care policy, she is the Emmett Dedmon Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, where she served as Dean for five years prior to being appointed Provost.

Baicker’s research focuses on the effectiveness of public and private health insurance, including the effect of reforms on the distribution and quality of care. Her large-scale research projects include the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, a randomized evaluation of the effects of Medicaid coverage. Her research has been published in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Science, Nature, Health Affairs, JAMA, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Before coming to the University of Chicago, Baicker was the C. Boyden Gray Professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a director of Eli Lilly, and a trustee of the Mayo Clinic. Baicker is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Social Insurance, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

She serves on the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisers and the Advisory Board of the National Institute for Health Care Management. She has served as Chair of the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission; Chair of the Board of Directors of AcademyHealth; and Commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. From 2005–2007, she served as a Senate-confirmed Member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Baicker earned her B.A. in economics from Yale and her Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.

James Theodore Robinson is the Dean of the Divinity School. The Nathan Cummings Professor of Jewish Studies, he is also Professor of the History of Judaism, Islamic Studies, and the History of Religions in the Divinity School and the College. Robinson’s research focuses on medieval Jewish intellectual history, philosophy, and biblical exegesis in the Islamic world and Christian Europe. His main interests lie in the literary and social dimensions of philosophy, and the relation between philosophy and religion. 

COL (Dr) Timothy Plackett is a trauma surgeon and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago.  He is also a US Army Reservist, paratrooper and the Chief of Surgical Services for the 374th Hospital Center, Fort Sheridan.  He graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology, Benedictine University with a Master’s in Public Health, and Midwestern University with a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine.  He completed a general surgery residency at Tripler Army Medical Center, serving as the administrative chief resident, and fellowships in Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at Loyola University Medical Center.

CH (COL) Mark C. Lee hails from the Aloha State of Hawai’i. He is an ordained priest of The Episcopal Church (TEC). Most significantly and importantly, he is married to the beautiful Kyo Young Park and the proud father of Nicole (20) and Jimin (15).

CH Lee is a Certified Educator (CE) and National Faculty (NF) with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), and a Board-Certified Chaplain (BCC) with the National Association of Veterans Affairs Chaplain (NAVAC).

CH Lee’s previous assignments include: Director of the CPE Program at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX; Chief of Theater Spiritual Resilience, U.S. Army Europe-Africa, Wiesbaden, Germany; Instructor and Curriculum Developer at the Medical Center of Excellence, San Antonio, TX; Deputy Garrison Chaplain and Resource Manager, USAG-Yongsan, Seoul, Korea; Brigade Chaplain, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Hovey, Dongducheon, Korea; 98th Medical Detachment (Combat Stress Control), Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA; Operations Chaplain, I Corps, JBLM, WA; Battalion Chaplain, 14th Engineer Battalion, JBLM, WA.

Prior to the Army, The Rev Dr Lee served as senior pastor of Community Church of Honolulu and concurrently as a Staff Wing Chaplain in the Hawaii Air National Guard, 201st Combat Communications Group and 154th Wing (2001-2005). He also taught various business courses in universities and colleges as an Adjunct Professor. Dr Lee also worked in banking and finance for over six years in Honolulu and Los Angeles prior to enrolling in Princeton Theological Seminary in 1996.

CH Lee’s formal education includes: University of Aberdeen, Scotland (PhD), Erskine Theological Seminary (DMin), Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv), and University of Southern California (MBA & BS). Military awards include: Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal (5 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Commendation Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal (M device), Army Service Medal, Overseas Service Medal (4 Numeral), and Air Force Training Medal.

Colonel Samuel Preston is the Commander (CEO) of Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Ft. Campbell, KY and is a dual-board certified Family Medicine and Psychiatry Army Medical Corps officer. He earned his Army commission in 2000 upon graduation from Xavier University's Reserve Officer Training Corps “All for One Battalion” with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Science/Pre-Med. The Army awarded him a four-year Health Professionals Scholarship to Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine where he graduated with a Doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine in 2004. Colonel Preston then completed a combined residency in Family Medicine and Psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., in 2009.

Colonel Preston’s previous billets include 4th Infantry Division Psychiatrist (2009-2012), U.S. Army Division - North and Iraq Joint Operational Area (IJOA) Command Psychiatrist (2010-2011), Chief of the Fort Carson Embedded Behavioral Health Service (2012-2013), Schofield Barracks Installation Director of Psychological Health (2013-2016), Associate faculty of Tripler Psychiatry and Psychology Residencies (2013-2016), Regional Health Command - Atlantic Director of Psychological Health (2016-2018), Regional Health Command - Atlantic Deputy Chief of Staff (2018), Commander, Hohenfels Army Health Clinic (2018-2020), and Chief of the Office of the Surgeon General Behavioral Health Division (2020-2022).

Colonel Preston completed Senior Service College at the Eisenhower School of National Security and Resource Strategy in 2023 earning a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy. Colonel Preston completed the U.S. Army Command and General’s Staff College Intermediate Leadership Education at Fort Belvoir in 2016 and completed AMEDD Officer Advanced and Basic Courses. His combat and specialty medical training includes Medical Strategic Leader Course, the Combat Casualty Care Course, Tactical Combat Medical Care, Medical Review Officer/Clinical Consultant Course, Basic Health Care Administrator’s Course, Executive Skills Course, and AMEDD Pre-Command Courses. Colonel Preston is Associate Faculty of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and previous Psychiatry Consultant to the Army Surgeon General.

Colonel Preston’s military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Army Meritorious Service Medal (4 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal (1 OLC), Armed Forces Service Medal, Army Staff Badge, and Air Assault Badge. He is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit (AMEDD) and Order of Aaron and Hur (Army Chaplain Corps). He carries the Surgeon General’s 9A designation for clinical excellence.

Colonel Preston is the son of Sam (deceased) and Jan Preston of Elmore, Ohio and is the brother of his sister Jennifer, brother-in-law, Eric, and Uncle to their three beautiful children, Brendan, Kiera, and Marlaina. He is a Godfather to five (Kiera, Marlaina, Annabel, Blade, and Joseph). The love from his family and friends carries him through his Army journey.

Chaplain (COL) Ibraheem Raheem enlisted in the US Army in Kansas City, Kansas and completed Basic Training at Ft. Bliss TX and then completed Combat Medical Specialist Course at Ft. Sam Houston TX. He later completed the Practical Nurse Course at Ft. Gordon GA. His spiritual journey began while working in the ICU at LRMC Landstuhl, Germany while witnessing miraculous recoveries. He later served as Lay Leader in both Germany and Fort Bragg NC. Where eventually he answered his calling to military ministry serving Soldiers and Families as a US Army Chaplain and was commissioned into the Chaplain Candidate Program.

His enlisted assignments, service as a Combat Medic at 44th Med BDE Fort Bragg NC, Licensed Practical Nurse at Womack Army Community Hospital and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, and 82nd Airborne Division Forward Surgical Team Wardmaster. As an Officer, he served as Battalion Chaplain on multiple assignments including 82nd Airborne, 1st Armored Divisions. He then served as Installation Resource Manager IMCOM Ft Jackson SC, Brigade Chaplain 1st ID Assist and Advise Brigade Iraq, Brigade Chaplain 8th MP Brigade Schofield Barracks Hawaii, AMEDD Deputy Command Chaplain JBSA San Antonio TX, WRNMMC CPE Site Director Bethesda MD, and presently serves as Program Director of the School for Spiritual Care and CPE at the USA-IRL Graduate School Fort Jackson, SC.

His civilian education includes a Doctor of Ministry degree from Erskine Theological Seminary, a MS in Religious Practice from Cordoba University, an MBA in Public Management from TUI, a BS Degree in Health Science from Campbell University and AA degree from the University of Maryland. He is also a ACPE Certified Educator and Board-certified Chaplain. He completed Arabic studies at The University of Jordan.

His military education includes PLDC, BNCOC, CHOBC, Chaplain Career Course, CGSC, IRSLC. His deployments include Germany, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Iraq (2), Afghanistan, Djibouti, Bosnia, Bangladesh, Cuba, and Hawaii. He is married to Debra Thompkins of Brooklyn, NY. They have four children Ayisha, Amina, Ishmael, and Inayah and two grandchildren Nasir and Lyric.