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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MICHAEL SAUL HUCKMAN, M.D. AND BEVERLY JOY BLACHMAN
WHEREAS, Michael Saul Huckman, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Radiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, died on January 19, 2021, suddenly and peacefully at home, in the presence of his sons. He was 84 years old; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Huckman was born in Newark, New Jersey, on August 20, 1936, the son of Dr. Louis Fillmore Huckman and Mollie (Lehman) Huckman; and
WHEREAS, a 1958 graduate of Princeton University, he received his medical degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1962. Following his internship at Philadelphia General Hospital, Dr. Huckman served two years as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, including a year as Medical Officer aboard the USS Sandoval; and
WHEREAS, after a residency in radiology at Philadelphia General Hospital, he completed a fellowship in Neuroradiology at the Edward Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis. In 1970 Dr. Huckman became Director of Neuroradiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where he practiced for the next 42 years until retirement; and
WHEREAS, Michael was a Fellow of the American College of Radiology and active in the Radiological Society of North America. As a member of the American Society of Neuroradiology, he served two years as its President and as Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Neuroradiology, its scholarly publication, from 1989 to 1997. He was elected to honorary membership in the Indian Society of Neuroradiology, the Japanese Society of Neuroradiology, the Turkish Society of Neuroradiology and the European Society of Neuroradiology and served as President of the World Federation of Neuroradiological Societies from 2002 to 2006. In 1998 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Society of Neuroradiology and received the Gold Medal of the Radiological Society of North America in 2002. Upon retirement he was awarded the 2012 Alumni Merit Award by St. Louis University School of Medicine and in 2016 Rush University Medical Center established the Michael and Beverly Huckman Endowed Research Fund in the Department of Radiology; and
WHEREAS, Michael was a passionate book collector and a member of the Caxton Club. Dr. Huckman had a special interest in medical history; his reflections on the role of Princeton University in the history of Philadelphia medicine is in the Princeton University Library and the archives of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He was a member of the Society of the Fifth Line, dedicated to the limerick, and once was a man who wrote rhymes and poetry dedicated to friends and family; and
WHEREAS, Michael is predeceased by his wife, Beverly Joy Blachman, who died in 2019 after 54 years of marriage. Beverly grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. Public schools at that time in Virginia were segregated. She was class valedictorian and also a state debate champion. She majored in government with a particular interest in African studies. She graduated with honors from Smith College in Northampton, MA, in June of 1963. That summer she was on the Mall in Washington when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his I Have a Dream speech. It had a permanent effect on her life; and
WHEREAS, married to Michael in 1964, they spent three years in Philadelphia before moving to St. Louis for his two-year fellowship. While in St. Louis, Beverly volunteered to represent the tenants in the St. Louis Public Housing rent strike of 1968. The rent strike was eventually settled in favor of the tenants, and Beverly helped write the settlement which, among other things, established the St. Louis Civic Alliance for Housing, paving the way for tenant management in public housing; and
WHEREAS, after they moved to Evanston in 1970, Beverly worked with Adele Neems, an Evanston alderman, writing the innovative Condominium Conversion and Landlord Tenant Ordinances. Beverly was a consultant to the Human Relations Commissions of both Evanston and Skokie and was instrumental in the establishment of public housing in both communities. She eventually served as Chair of the Evanston Housing Commission and steered legislation for adoption of the Group and Family Care Ordinance. She later served as Chair of the Northshore Community Housing Resource Board; and
WHEREAS, in 1974, she became Equal Opportunity Coordinator for Academic Affairs at Rush University Medical Center until she retired in 2012 as Associate Vice President for Equal Opportunity and Diversity. At Rush, she was responsible for the development and implementation of the Rush Diversity, Equal Opportunity, and Affirmative Action programs, the Policies and Procedures on Harassment, programs related to the Americans With Disabilities Act and other civil rights policies and programs. Largely due to her efforts, Rush received the Henry Betts, M.D. Award for significant contributions in promoting disability rights and employment advocacy. She was also instrumental in the hospital's receiving the U.S. Department of Labor “EVE Award” for Exemplary Voluntary Efforts in Equal Opportunity for Minorities, Women, Individuals with Disabilities, and Veterans in 2007, and in the hospital receiving the LGBT Healthcare Equality award from the Human Rights Campaign for the years 2009 to 2012. At Rush, she also received the 1997 Eugene J-MA Thonar Award for outstanding contributions to advancing opportunities for people with disabilities, the 2005 Henry P. Russe, M.D. Humanitarian Award, and the J. Robert Clapp Diversity Leadership Award; and
WHEREAS, Beverly also served on the board of Beth Emet Synagogue. She chaired its Social Action Committee and served as a Trustee of the Beth Emet Foundation. She was a founding member of the Evanston Catholic-Jewish Dialogue which began in 1986 and still exists today. Since 1986 she served on the Executive Board of the Chicago Region Chapter of the American Jewish Committee and served as its Vice President and Chair of its Interreligious Affairs Commission from 2005 to 2007. In 1999, she was a member of AJC’s delegation to Berlin, sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung to foster German-American Jewish understanding; and
WHEREAS, Beverly has multiple other accomplishments. She became a member of the Benefit Steering Committee of Access Living, a group that advocates for disability rights, and served on boards for the Citizens Committee for Victim Assistance, and Housing Options for the Mentally Ill of Evanston. She was a public member of the Board of Trustees of the Radiological Society of North America Research and Education Foundation from 2003 to 2009 and was one of two non-attorney members of the Board of Directors of the Center for Conflict Resolution, established by the Chicago Bar Association, from 2000 to 2010. From 2015 until her passing, she was a public member of the Residency Review Committee of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. She also won the Association of American Medical Colleges Women in Medicine Silver Achievement Award and a Distinguished Service Award from the Center for Conflict Resolution; and
WHEREAS, both Michael Saul Huckman and his wife, Beverly Joy Blachman led exemplary lives; and
WHEREAS, Michael is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Louis Fillmore Huckman and Mollie (Lehman) Huckman, and sister Lenore (the late Richard Turteltaub). He is survived by sons Andrew (Elaine Serafim) of Chicago and Robert (Jennifer Burbridge) of Newton, Massachusetts, and grandson Noah, also of Newton.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners of Cook County, on behalf of the 5.2 million residents of Cook County, honors the life and contributions of Michael Saul Huckman, M.D. and Beverly Joy Blachman, and herewith expresses its sincere gratitude for the invaluable contributions they made to the Citizens of Cook County, Illinois; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this Resolution be spread upon the official proceedings of this Honorable Body and that an official copy of same be tendered to the family of Michael Saul Huckman, M.D. and Beverly Joy Blachman.
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