Meet Our Campaign Chair

When asked to serve as Chairman of the Campaign Committee for the Roslyn and Leonard Stoler Center for Advanced Medicine, Dr. William ‘Brit’ Kirwan readily agreed. The former Chancellor of the University System of Maryland and current Chairman of the Kirwan Commission felt a sense of personal obligation to join such an important effort.

“I’ve had a very long and wonderful relationship with the University of Maryland Medical Center. It’s just always been one of the real joys of my professional life to have had this relationship,” says Dr. Kirwan, who also serves on the University of Maryland Medical Center Board of Directors. “But I think my greatest emotional attachment comes from the cancer care that my wife, Patty, received when she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2010.”

For eight years, Patty underwent multiple forms of therapies and treatments at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). Both she and Dr. Kirwan were deeply impressed by the expert, compassionate, and coordinated care of the entire medical team.

“It was a difficult time for us, but we always felt so welcomed and so beautifully cared for by the talented professionals at the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center,” he says.

While Patty passed away from complications of the disease in 2018, Dr. Kirwan’s steadfast commitment to the advancement of cancer care continued. His role as Campaign Chairman is undoubtedly reflected in his affection for Patty, whom he first met in the seventh grade and was married to for 58 years.

“Patty taught my family, our friends, and me an invaluable lesson — how to face life’s greatest challenges with grace and courage,” Dr. Kirwan says. “It was really, in so many ways, such an inspirational thing to see how she came to grips with the great difficulties and traumas of her condition, never complaining, always in good spirits, and invariably displaying her charming sense of humor right until the very end.”

Scheduled to break ground next year, the nine-story Roslyn and Leonard Stoler Center for Advanced Medicine will be constructed above the main entrance of the University of Maryland Medical Center at 22 S. Greene Street. It will be an incredible resource for future generations faced with a cancer diagnosis and will enable advancements in patient care, research, and discovery.

“I look forward to helping this transformative project come to fruition. We have such amazingly talented people who are really working at the cutting-edge of research on cancer treatments,” Dr. Kirwan says. “When you think about a brand-new facility with all the best possible equipment and spaces, there’s no limit to what the Center will be able to accomplish.”

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