In March of 1970, I became the third employee of what would become the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. For the immediately prior four years I had worked for the Illinois Department of Business and Economic Development. Dean Richard Moy led the development of the school, deftly enlisting, specialty by specialty, teams of local practicing physicians to recruit department heads and advise on how best to turn Springfield's two fine hospitals into teaching hospitals. The rest, as they say, is history.
I don't recall which institutions, such as the Illinois Board of Higher Education and/or the Illinois General Assembly, were most instrumental in approving the new school, but the description of the need for a downstate medical school was made in a report of a committee headed by Randy Tucker. The report was often referred to as "The Tucker Report."
The Tucker Report argued that health care in central and southern Illinois would be improved by the presence of a downstate medical school and a focus on producing primary physicians. If I remember correctly, the report also recommended that the State of Illinois fund primary care residencies in the Chicago area as well.
An overview of the school today may be found here:
https://catalog.siu.edu/colleges/med.php
So, a belated "thank you," Randy, for your leadership role in medical education.