With a gift of more than $1 million from the Don S. Levin Trust and Edna and Tom Gordon, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health has established the Paul Torrens Chair in Healthcare Management. The chair is named in honor of Dr. Paul Torrens, a professor emeritus who has been on the school’s faculty since 1972 and has taught and mentored numerous people who went on to become key figures in health care management.
The gift will support the teaching and research activities of a faculty member with health care management expertise; the professor will be based in the Fielding School’s new Center for Healthcare Management and the department of health policy and management.
“We are grateful to the Don S. Levin Trust and Edna and Tom Gordon for their visionary gift to endow the Paul Torrens Chair in Healthcare Management, which will contribute to the recruitment and retention of top Fielding School faculty for years to come,” said Ron Brookmeyer, the school’s interim dean. “Paul Torrens has influenced the careers of generations of health care management professionals. This transformative gift ensures that his impact will continue well into the future.”
Torrens has had a long career in health care management and health policy — including managing and serving on the governing boards of hospitals and health care organizations, as well as consulting for governmental and nongovernmental organizations. But arguably his greatest impact has been as a faculty member at the Fielding School, where his passion for teaching and ability to inspire have made a difference in the careers of countless health professionals, particularly in Southern California.
The gift is part of the Centennial Campaign for UCLA, which is scheduled to conclude in December.
