RMCOEH last week welcomed a special visitor: William Rom, MD, the center’s founding director. Dr. Rom, who had not been back to Utah since departing RMCOEH, spent Jan. 28 touring RMCOEH's headquarters and some of its additional research labs on the University of Utah’s main campus.
Dr. Rom founded RMCOEH in 1977 and led it until 1983, when he left for a research position with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). During his visit to RMCOEH, Dr. Rom reminisced about his experiences leading the center, stopping by his former office on campus and reflecting on the early days of developing RMCOEH. Throughout the day, he shared insights into the challenges, vision, and dedication it took to establish RMCOEH and position it as a leader in occupational and environmental health. He also expressed pleasure in having an opportunity to witness how much the center has grown in the decades since his departure, crediting RMCOEH's subsequent directors -- Drs. Royce Moser, Jr. and Kurt Hegmann -- for building on the foundation he established.
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