Kathleen A. DeVries, a specialist in external relations and business strategy for academic medical centers, has been appointed Vice President for Marketing and Communications at the University of Chicago Medical Center, effective Feb. 7, 2011.
In this position, which reports to the Medical Center president, DeVries will lead the marketing effort for the Medical Center and the University of Chicago Practice Plan, coordinate Medical Center business development, and work closely with the University to oversee communications for the Medical Center, the Pritzker School of Medicine, and the Biological Sciences Division.
"The appointment follows a national search and we are very pleased with the outcome," said Kenneth S. Polonsky, Dean of the Division of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Chicago.
Devries comes to Chicago from her current position as Director of Marketing at Barnes–Jewish Hospital and Medical Center in St. Louis, which includes Barnes–Jewish Hospital, Siteman Cancer Center, Barnes–Jewish West County Hospital, and Goldfarb School of Nursing. In this position, she has led marketing and business strategy, and has overseen physician relations, media and social media relations, internal communications, and community relations since 2007.
Prior to that she served as assistant vice president of marketing and planning for Duke Medicine, and for many years as vice president of marketing and strategic support at Froedtert Hospital and Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Her husband, Richard Hawkins, is a ceramic artist.
DeVries is immediate past chair of the University Healthsystem Consortium chief marketing office council and a member of the Healthcare Executive Forum. She has published articles in marketing journals on brand development and consumer health care decision–making.
Devries earned her bachelor’s in political science and mass communications and a masters of business administration from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
—Prof. Kunle Odunsi
