Departmental Endowed Chairs

The Arthur H. Bill Chair of Reproductive Biology

  • School of Medicine
  • Present Occupant: James H. Liu, MD

As an assistant in obstetrics at the Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Dr. Arthur H. Bill established a maternity service in 1906 for indigent patients out of his home. In 1927, Dr. Bill was appointed professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Western Reserve University and director of obstetrics and gynecology at University Hospitals. Initially the departments of obstetrics and gynecology were separate, but by 1936 the services were integrated and housed together at MacDonald House, with Dr. Bill as chairman. Dr. Bill served as chairman until 1950.

The Mary D. Fergus Chair in Maternal and Fetal Medicine

  • Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and MacDonald Women’s Hospital
  • Present Occupant: Honor Wolfe, MD

Gift from Terrence and Mary Ferguson in appreciation for their son's treatment in 1983. Established in 2010 to advance the Maternal-Fetal Care program at University Hospitals, a rapidly developing science that emphasizes early diagnosis, management and treatment of the unborn fetus — all critical areas to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, where poverty and lack of health insurance contribute to higher rates of infant mortality than the national average

The Edgar B. Jackson Chair for Clinical Excellence and Diversity

  • University Hospitals
  • Present Occupant:  Margaret Larkins, Pettigrew, MD

The Edgar B. Jackson Jr., MD, Endowed Chair for Clinical Excellence and Diversity, created in 2004, is the nation's only permanent, endowed faculty position in an academic medical center in the U.S. created to promote faculty diversity. 

Our goal is to inspire underrepresented minorities to pursue careers in medicine, and encouraging them to do so at UH. The effort has the aims:

  • To motivate underrepresented minority students (URM) from middle school through college toward careers in medicine with a special emphasis on black males.
  • To recruit, support and challenge rising physicians with mentorship, hands-on leadership opportunities, financial incentives, peer groups and professional recognition.
  • To promote cultural competency throughout the institution that insures all providers, trainees and staff intentionally challenge unconscious bias that may result in suboptimal care delivered to our patients.

The William H. Weir, MD Chair of Reproductive Biology

  • School of Medicine
  • Present Occupant: Sam Mesiano, PhD

Dr. William H. Weir established a flourishing gynecological service at Lakeside Hospital in the early 1900s. He was a member of the first medical advisory board to the Independent Maternal Health Association (MHA, est. 1928), which provided married women with birth control—then an illicit service, unavailable from most medical facilities and physicians. In 1936, Dr. Weir served as the director of the Gynecology Service, of the newly integrated Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at MacDonald House. Dr. Weir served as director until 1950.