Maggie Stanton

Maggie Stanton By Jim La Velle

Maggie Stanton, known to one of her colleagues as “Ms. Public Health,” retired May 1 after 30 years of service to UIC, most of it in the School of Public Health.

According to Curtisteen Steward, the school’s associate dean for finance and resource planning, Stanton earned the title for her contributions to the school from its beginnings in the early 1970s.

“She was the one person in the school that always seemed to have the right answer consistently,” said Steward.

“She was not only Ms. Public Health, she was the in-house mentor/mom for nearly all support and many professional staff.”

Stanton started her UIC career as a secretary in pulmonary medicine, but in July 1972 -the first year the school accepted students -she began working for the director of epidemiology. In 1975 she moved to the dean’s office, where she eventually became the school’s business manager.

At a Sept. 9 awards ceremony, Sylvia Furner, senior associate dean of public health, said more than five months after Stanton’s retirement, staff were still trying to reassign all her duties.

Which may explain why Stanton purposely began her retirement on the slow track -catching up on the maintenance of her home in the Beverly/Morgan Park community on the Far South Side.

“I applied for retirement expecting to take care of my mother, who was in poor health, but she passed away in February.

“Suddenly, when I retired in May, I went from having too much to do to being able to take my time. So for the entire summer, I didn’t do a darn thing.”

Well, not entirely. Stanton actually spent her summer fulfilling family and community commitments.

As executor of her mother’s, she sold and divided the assets among her four brothers and sisters. She pursued her interest in genealogy, tracing her father’s family history back to a great-grandmother in the 1820s who lived in Pike County, Ala. She found evidence that the family may have been cheated out of property in the 1880s and is determined to do further research on the subject.

She continued her long-time efforts as a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association South Shore Auxiliary, where she serves on the executive board, and her church activities at the Christ Universal Temple at 119th and Ashland.

By September Stanton even found herself back in school, taking classes at Chicago State University on the history of the Bible.

In short, she is not a person who knows the true meaning of taking it easy. Which is why she was so hard to replace.

Jacob Brody, dean of the School of Public Health from 1985 to 1992, remembers Stanton as “the perfect person for someone who was family and community new to the school and new to Chicago."

"She just made my whole life easier," said Brody. Portia White, management systems manager, described Stanton's "legendary support” for faculty, staff and students.

Calling Stanton "conscientious, thorough, diligent, poised, level headed, compassionate and caring," White said Stanton was a well-rounded individual who was truly going to be missed. Steward agrees.

"I believe the Janice Watkins award was designed specifically to honor the 30-year dedication to excellence at UIC and the lifetime commitment to improving the quality of lives of others that Maggie exemplifies," she said.