PUBLIC SERVANT OF THE YEAR
Robert A. Barish, MD, MBA

The desire to serve is a driving force in the life of Robert A. Barish, the vice dean for clinical affairs in the School of Medicine (SOM). One of his early public service milestones was establishing the emergency medicine program in 1985, when he was chief of emergency medicine at the SOM and director of emergency medical services for the University of Maryland Medical System.

Within a decade, he had recruited renowned educators and clinicians and transformed the department into a premier site. In 1995, he became the first emergency physician promoted to full professor at the SOM.

Barish expanded his public service role in 1986 and joined the Maryland Air National Guard, ultimately becoming a flight surgeon. Today, he is commander of the Maryland Defense Forces, 10th Medical Regiment, a team of all-volunteer health care providers that assisted Hurricane Katrina survivors.

Barish also has been affiliated with Boy Scouts of America for much of his life and has raised more than $1 million for city scouts with developmental disabilities.