In memoriam: Don S. Schalch, MD
Don S. Schalch, MD, professor emeritus of medicine, former chief of what was then known as the Endocrine section in the Department of Medicine, beloved student mentor and dedicated volunteer, died on April 11, 2025, at the age of 95.
Dr. Schalch joined the department in 1982 as Endocrine section chief, a role he held until 1990. Although he formally retired in 1999, he remained active for many years as a part-time faculty member and medical director for MEDiC, the network of Madison-area free clinics led by University of Wisconsin health professions students.
The valedictorian of his class at the University of Cincinnati Medical School, Dr. Schalch completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in endocrinology at the University of Rochester. He held faculty positions there and at the University of Colorado before coming to Wisconsin.
His research sought to understand how a protein called insulin-like growth factor regulated growth hormones in the body. In an era when microbiology was still in its infancy, he invented a unique way to isolate, purify and identify the protein so it could be studied.
Dr. Schalch deeply believed that medicine was a noble and selfless profession. He lived those values through his clinical practice and over 50 years as a volunteer and mentor.
In addition to serving as medical director and an attending physician for MEDiC, Dr. Schalch volunteered for the Benevolent Specialties Project (BSP) Free Clinic, the only free specialty clinic in Wisconsin.
He led students on medical mission trips to a mission in Saint Lucas, Guatemala, dozens of times over at least two decades. Similar mission trips with students also took him to Cuba, Belize and Haiti.
As the chosen class mentor for the UW School of Medicine Class of 2002, he took the unprecedented step of spending 50 percent of his time over those four years as a fellow medical student. The students subsequently asked him to deliver an address at their graduation ceremony—and gave him a standing ovation for it.
In further recognition of his efforts, in 2008, the fourth-year medical students in the Gold Humanism Honor Society chose him as the first UW faculty member to receive the Leonard Tow Humanism Award. In 2011, the Department of Medicine honored him with the Schilling-Harkness Teaching Award.
We honor Dr. Schalch for his compassion and generosity, his dedication to our missions, and his commitment to making the world a better place for so many.