Mike Black, M.B.A., (center) receives the Administration Leadership Award from Rajeshwar Rao Tekmal, Ph.D., (right) chair of the Faculty Senate, and Keith Krolick, Ph.D., (left), who nominated him.
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By Rosanne Fohn

The Faculty Senate of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio recently presented its annual leadership awards, honoring two outstanding administrative and faculty leaders.

This year’s Administration Leadership Award was presented to Mike Black, M.B.A., senior executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Michael Lichtenstein, M.D., M.Sc., was honored with the Faculty Leadership Award. Dr. Lichtenstein is a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology & Palliative Medicine in the School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine. He also is the Carter Pannill Professor in Internal Medicine.

The awards were presented Sept. 14 by Rajeshwar Rao Tekmal, Ph.D., chair of the Faculty Senate. He is a professor and director of the Division of Reproductive Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, part of the School of Medicine. He also is the Carl J. Pauerstein Professor of Reproductive Research.

Both of the award winners were nominated by Keith Krolick, Ph.D., professor and Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Krolick, who assisted with the presentation of the awards, at first joked that he was just looking for people named Michael to nominate for the awards this year. However, he then explained why each candidate was so qualified for the leadership awards.

Mike Black, M.B.A.
As COO, Black advises Health Science Center President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, in all areas involving the institution’s business and financial operations. This includes planning, administering and directing day-to-day operational activities in existing facilities and programs, as well as for new ventures and sites.

He also supervises 900 employees in strategic planning, financial management, facility operations, information management, legal affairs, compliance, public safety, internal audit and other administrative areas.

“Although he has only been at the Health Science Center since 2007, Mr. Black has made numerous contributions to the missions and well-being of our university,” Dr. Krolick said. “He has demonstrated a true commitment to supporting those of us who pursue academic excellence. He has outstanding business and communications skills that have allowed him to serve effectively as a liaison between the Health Science Center administration and the faculty. Furthermore, Mr. Black constantly serves as an example to his colleagues in the administration of how to employ decisive, yet open and transparent, strategies for moving the university forward.

Among his many contributions, Black managed merging the administrative functions and facilities of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center with the Health Science Center’s shortly after arriving at the Health Science Center. He developed a way to return more revenues directly to the schools for educational purposes, and reorganized Facilities Management so that renovations for research and instruction are more timely and cost effective.

He also has led the effort to reduce with minimal job losses the Health Science Center’s budget for three consecutive years due to state funding cuts.

“We are in the midst of the most seriously challenged budgetary times that I have experienced since arriving here nearly 30 years ago, requiring critical, often painful, decisions. From working with Mr. Black on several projects, it is clear that he really appreciates the fragile balance between the business and academic needs of the institution. He also appreciates the seriousness and consequences of his decisions and that people’s lives are affected by everything he does,” Dr. Krolick said.

Presenting the Faculty Leadership Award to Michael Lichtenstein, M.D., M.Sc., (center) are Keith Krolick, Ph.D., (left) and Rajeshwar Rao Tekmal, Ph.D., (right) chair of the Faculty Senate.

Michael Lichtenstein, M.D., M.Sc.
Dr. Lichtenstein has demonstrated leadership in numerous ways. “He is a skilled clinician, an innovative researcher and a dedicated mentor. And most importantly, he is a bridge-builder, perhaps the most important quality that any effective leader must display. The bridges he builds connect a widely diverse collection of individuals,” Dr. Krolick said.

This physician-researcher has been a driving force in developing the clinical practice of geriatrics in UT Medicine San Antonio, the faculty practice of the School of Medicine. He also was a major leader in moving the General Clinical Research Center into the Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science.

As a clinical researcher, he was one of the co-principal investigators of the Health Science Center’s Clinical and Translational Science Award, which brings together researchers and clinicians to improve health for patients throughout South Texas.

Specific to the educational realm, however, Dr. Lichtenstein has developed programs designed to train and mentor investigators in clinical research, including a course in clinical research methodology for fellows that he developed in the mid-1990s that continues today. He developed the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation degree program, and designed a teacher enrichment initiative for teachers of children in kindergarten through 12th grade to improve science education in public schools.

Dr. Lichtenstein has received the Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence, Presidential Award for Clinical Excellence, an appointment to the UT System’s Academy of Health Science Education and the UT Health Science Center Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. The winner of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award presents the keynote address to incoming medical students at the annual White Coat ceremony.