Deckers urges community to give to student fund

Dr. Peter J. Deckers steps down this month from his positions as executive vice president for health affairs at the UConn Health Center and dean of the School of Medicine.

During his more than 20 years in Farmington, all in top leadership positions, Deckers has enabled the Health Center to become a leader in innovative and responsive undergraduate and graduate medical education; introduced and expanded regional clinical services, including cancer, cardiology, and musculoskeletal care and research; and cemented the institution’s dedication to its core missions of biomedical education, basic science research, health care delivery, and public service.

In response to many requests to create a fund in his honor, Deckers and his wife Barbara have requested that donors contribute to the academic enhancement fund the couple established in 2000, the Peter J. and Barbara A. Deckers Student Academic Enhancement Endowment Fund.

Deckers is deeply committed to making medical education affordable and accessible to students who have the aptitude and desire, but not the full financial means, to thrive in medical school.

After more than 40 years of experience teaching and working with students, he sees a sharp contrast between his own education and what most students experience today, even at public universities such as UConn.

“When I went to medical school,” he says, “I could earn through summer employment what my tuition and fees would be for the next two semesters. Today, no student can manage financially to get through medical school like that, especially if they’re doing it on their own.”