Stritch Alumnus and Faculty Member Honors His Memories with a $1.6 million Gift
Frederick M. Selfridge, MD, is a 1946 alumnus of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (Stritch) and has experienced the Loyola family from all angles; as anundergraduate at Loyola University Chicago (LUC), as a medical student and a faculty member at Stritch, as a physician treating patients at Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), and as a patient receiving care through LUMC. Dr. Selfridge attributes his successful career to the solid education, training and practical experiences he gained at LUC and Loyola University Health System (Loyola).“My experiences at Loyola were priceless gifts given to me long ago,” Dr. Selfridge said. “I truly feel that if I had not been accepted at Loyola’s lakeshore campus and the medical school, I would not be where I am today. The fact that I was able to attend both schools is a debt I can never quite repay, and being invited to become a member of the faculty was quite an honor for me as well.”
In recognition of these positive experiences, Dr. Selfridge has made a $1.6 million bequest intention to Loyola allocating more than $1.3 million to Stritch, $25,000 to LUMC, and $250,000 to LUC. The gift is to be used for whatever purpose Stritch, LUMC and LUC deem fit. “Where the need is greatest is where my money should go,”
Dr. Selfridge said.
A practicing Catholic who was intrigued by medicine at an early age, Dr. Selfridge chose
Loyola because of the Jesuit foundation it provided at the university. “Other schools were better known, but the fact that LUC was a Catholic school that offered me an opportunity to study medicine was the impetus that led me to select Loyola for my education,” he said.
Dr. Selfridge attended LUC from 1940 to 1943 and Stritch from 1943 to 1946. “I was in medical school during World War II and also served in the U.S. Army at that time, so my tuition was paid by the U.S. Army Medical Corps,” he said. Dr. Selfridge recalls wearing his army uniform to school.
He formed close friendships with several classmates, most of whom were men since there were only four women in each class at that time. “I felt very welcomed by all of my teachers and classmates. Dr. Selfridge said. “My health no longer allows me to attend the annual Stritch alumni reunion, but I remain in contact with a couple of my classmates from the Chicago area.”
After graduating from Stritch, Dr. Selfridge served a 15-month internship at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago. He then served at a hospital in Guam for the U.S. Army Medical Corps for two years, and provided psychiatric care and general medical care during a three-month tour of duty in Tokyo. After completing his military service, Dr. Selfridge completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, followed by a fellowship at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans.
A member of the Stritch faculty from 1953 to 1971, Dr. Selfridge served as an associate professor in the Department of Medicine as well as an assistant and associate dean. After leaving Stritch, Dr. Selfridge served as the assistant director of the Department of International Medicine at the American Medical Association, and the director of Professional Services at Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago. From 1973 to 1988, he was the director of the Department of Medical Education at Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago.
Dr. Selfridge, a Chicago-area native, retired as an internal medicine specialist in 1988. Postretirement, he has maintained a close relationship with Loyola, remained current with university improvements and is continuing to foster ongoing communications with administrators. “I certainly consider the students and the faculty as an extension of my family,” he said.
For more information on making a bequest to Stritch, contact Shawn Vogen, PhD, in the Office of Development & Alumni Relations at svogen@lumc.edu or (708) 216-5642.