Cadman to be on leave for 6 months
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Edwin Cadman, dean of the University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine, will take an immediate six-month leave of absence from his job to face a personal health crisis.
Cadman would not comment on the nature of his illness but it's of such seriousness that his family is asking for privacy during this time and hoping that people can "replace speculation with compassion," according to a press release issued by the office of interim President David McClain.
Cadman
"Ed has worked miracles in the community," said his wife, writer Katherine Nichols. "Why not on himself? We're very hopeful."
Nichols said her husband always gives 100 percent to what he is doing, and it is important at this time for him to step back from his job and give 100 percent to his health.
Cadman met yesterday with his senior leadership team and McClain to plan how to handle his temporary departure. Vice dean Sam Shomaker will serve as acting dean until Cadman's return.
"We hope Ed will make a rapid recovery and be back with us in a few months," McClain said.
The new medical school in Kaka'ako — guided to fruition by Cadman — will move forward just as powerfully in the interim, McClain said. Some faculty are expected to begin moving into offices later this spring.
"We've watched the dream of the medical school take shape over the last five years," said McClain, saying it was Cadman who played the critical role in making that dream a reality.
"That transformation is intended to lay the foundation for diversification of the economy and the life sciences direction," McClain said. "His vision is what we're in the process of fulfilling."
Shomaker said that Cadman "has charted a clear course for us and we're about ready to move into the new building.
"The building itself and the campus is a monument to his foresight to the possibilities of the medical school and the role it can play in the economy," Shomaker said.
"We intend to vigorously pursue those objectives and not stop. It's full speed ahead as far as we're concerned," he said. "The key leadership team are all pledged to redouble the commitment to fulfill our goals. A lot of that is a way of thanking Ed. And the best way we can thank him is to fulfill his vision and keep working to achieve the objectives he established for all of us."
Cadman came to Hawai'i in 1999 from Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital, bringing a fresh start to Hawai'i's ailing medical school. Building community support, he was poised in 2001 to offer the Kaka'ako project to the Legislature, then-Gov. Ben Cayetano and the university's new administration, as the right project to launch the state forward after the economic downturn following 9/11.
In the years since, Gov. Linda Lingle has also given solid praise to Cadman's vision and his hard work in piecing the project together and helping it move forward.
Cadman's dream has always been to project the medical school into the top 50 in the nation, drawing on its strengths in both teaching students through problem-based learning and serving an indigenous population with unique medical issues.
In the past five years, Cadman's influence has brought increases in research faculty and record levels of federal grants. In the past few months alone, $61 million in multiyear grants have been awarded to medical-school faculty. That compares with just $2.3 million in grants annually when Cadman arrived.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
