Medical Wellness Center Dedicated in Memory of Richard A. Iacino
For a man who gave so much of himself, serving his country with the U.S. Navy in Vietnam and, over nearly four decades, three successive deans and the entire Miller School family with relentless dedication and loyalty, Richard A. “Dick” Iacino deliberately shunned the limelight.
He never sought or welcomed praise—not for his foresight and drive in helping create the Miller School’s Comprehensive AIDS Program, nor for ushering in innovative programs at the Mailman Center for Child Development and the Center on Adult Development and Aging, nor for moving mountains and turning the University of Miami Medical Wellness Center from a mere dream to a magnificent retreat for hard-working faculty, staff and the community. Undoubtedly, he would have objected to his family, friends, colleagues and former bosses gathering at the Wellness Center in his honor three months after his July 17 death.
But on Wednesday, the people he was close to dedicated the Medical Wellness Center in Iacino’s memory. This time, they insisted on shining on his memory the spotlight he never craved—but deserved.
“We’re here to celebrate a wonderful friend, brother and individual who was instrumental in the life of this medical school for 37 years,” said Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., who like his two predecessors selected Iacino as his chief of staff. “His death has left a huge gap in our family and in our hearts. Today is a wonderful opportunity to attempt to fill that vacuum and populate it with thoughts of our friend with the dedication of this Wellness Center.”
The ceremony, organized by Iacino’s Miller School family, including Gail Haldeman, M.A., director of the Medical Wellness Center, was held in a training room at the center. Deans Emeriti Bernard J. Fogel, M.D., and John G. Clarkson, M.D., Norman C. Parsons Jr., director of the Department of Wellness and Recreation on the Coral Gables campus, Iacino’s sisters Dolores Iacino, of St. Petersburg, Florida, Rita Jane Iacino, of Tampa, and Jean M. Iacino, of Sacramento, California, joined faculty, staff and friends for the dedication. Deans Fogel and Clarkson, Haldeman, and Dolores Iacino spoke during the tribute.
“No one loved our medical school more or demonstrated that love every day,” Dean Clarkson said. “He was the wind beneath our wings.”
“He was a close and trusted colleague, but even more, he was a close and trusted friend,” said Dean Fogel, who knew Iacino for 35 years and was the first dean to appoint him chief of staff. “Far beyond this school, his compassion reached out in many ways.”
Fogel drew laughter when he speculated that Iacino was so adept as chief administrator for three successive deans because he began his career as a kindergarten teacher.
Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and raised in St. Petersburg, Iacino earned his B.A. in educational psychology at Florida State University in 1968 and his M.A. in special education/early education at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 1973. He began his career as coordinator of early intervention programs for handicapped preschoolers at Vanderbilt’s Kennedy Center Experimental School.
Joining the Miller School in 1974, he filled numerous roles, including project coordinator of various early intervention programs at the Mailman Center, assistant director for administration in the Human Development Section of the Department of Pediatrics, the first administrative director of the Comprehensive AIDS Program, and deputy director of the Center on Adult Development and Aging.
As the other speakers did, Haldeman extolled Iacino’s commitment to health and wellness and his excitement over convincing University leaders and others to buy into his vision for a state-of-the-art Medical Wellness Center.
“That devotion became the driving force for the construction of the building,” Haldeman said. “He believed healthy individuals collectively made for a healthy workforce.”
The room broke out in applause when Haldeman, Deans Goldschmidt, Fogel and Clarkson and Iacino’s three sisters unveiled the large plaque dedicating the Wellness center “in loving memory.”
“Everything you heard about Richard is true,” said Dolores Iacino, the eldest sister. “But he was also a son, a brother, a friend to others, an uncle and a partner. He is loved and respected. It’s just kind of incredible to us to see the impact he has had, is having, and will continue to have on so many people.”
