College of Education at Illinois alumnus Dale H. Flach has been honored with a Distinguished Service Award by the University of Illinois Alumni Association for his insight and innovation in developing programs that serve communities throughout the state.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1959 and an Ed.M. in 1964, and completing his military obligation, Flach started his UI career with Residence Halls on the Urbana-Champaign campus. He was instrumental in initiating the Allen Hall Unit One program and was a strong advocate for the living-in-residence concept.
Flach later became dean for Student and Alumni Affairs at the newly formed UI College of Medicine at Rockford, where he leveraged faculty and community partnerships to involve medical students in numerous ways while developing the student support program.
He was at the forefront of developing the Illinois Rural Medical Education Program to recruit applicants from rural areas throughout downstate Illinois and, following their formal training, have them return as primary care doctors to meet the needs of underserved communities. Flach was involved in virtually all aspects of developing this innovative program, including the establishment of a statewide network of community hospital-based clinical training sites for medical students. He continues to serve on its Recruitment and Retention Committee.
