This month, UT Southwestern will celebrate the employment milestones of more than 100 individuals whose hard work, dedication, and contributions over decades have helped promote the institution’s success.

During Employee Recognition Week, 103 employees are invited to a June 12 luncheon recognizing them for 50, 40, 35, 30, and 25 years of service, respectively. Fifty-nine of the honorees have reached their 25-year milestone and will be newly inducted into the University’s Quarter Century Club. The cohort of employees will be honored in front of an audience that includes their immediate supervisors, all Quarter Century Club members, and executive leadership.

The event’s host is Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern. This year’s keynote speaker is Charles M. Ginsburg, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, whose career at UT Southwestern has spanned five decades and includes roles as a physician, educator, administrator, and researcher. He was the first Medical Director at Children’s Medical Center Dallas and served as Vice Provost and Senior Associate Dean for Education at UTSW until retiring in February.

“I worked at UT Southwestern for 50 years, and I hope employees have the same feelings I have about the place. Most importantly, it is the land of opportunity where anyone who works hard can accomplish whatever they want.”

Dr. Ginsburg said his speech will focus on the many opportunities available at UT Southwestern, which he praised for being an institution of visionary and caring leadership that has set an incredibly high bar.  

“I worked at UT Southwestern for 50 years, and I hope employees have the same feelings I have about the place,” he said. “Most importantly, it is the land of opportunity where anyone who works hard can accomplish whatever they want.”

Over his distinguished career, Dr. Ginsburg has held many positions, but it is his most recent role as the visionary behind Biomedical Preparatory at UT Southwestern that he considers the most rewarding. It was Dr. Ginsburg’s goal to provide a unique educational opportunity to young children of different socioeconomic levels using UT Southwestern’s intellectual resources.

“You can’t be a pediatrician and not be concerned about the education of young children,” he said. “Education is key to life’s opportunities.”

For the Nebraska native, the biomedical school is the latest chapter in a career that has woven education, medicine, research, and community together.

Dr. Ginsburg graduated with honors from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. He then completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in academic pediatrics/infectious disease at UT Southwestern.

From 1982-1988, Dr. Ginsburg served as Medical Director at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, and later as Chief of Staff there for 15 years. He then served as Chair of the Department of Pediatrics. In 2009, he was Interim Dean of UT Southwestern Medical School while the search for a new Dean and Provost was underway. For the last 16 years, he was Vice Provost and Senior Associate Dean for Education.

From the start of his UTSW career, Dr. Ginsburg said he knew it would be a great place to work.

“It has provided a lot of opportunities for me,” he said. “And I think it has done the same thing for a lot of other people, too.”