At Purdue, Garth Walker — two-sport Big Ten athlete — focused on football and track and field.
At Illinois, now-Dr. Garth Walker — future emergency physician — got serious about school.
“U of I fostered some of my most significant academic development,” says the 2005 transfer, who majored in economics, minored in chemistry and went on to add an M.D. and a master’s in public health after earning his bachelor’s degree in Champaign-Urbana.
“The person I remember most is Dr. Jeffrey Moore, organic chemistry. His appreciation for persistence and curiosity set the stage for me to truly delineate the characteristics that I felt explain success.
“He also gave me a teaching opportunity, which during that time allowed me to achieve an appreciation for growth and context of students‘ background and starting points, leading me to do Americorps community organizing in D.C. and pursuing medicine, where I ultimately embraced research and entrepreneurship.
“U of I is the reason I co-founded my company and committed my curiosity to social determinants of health,” says Walker, an emergency medical physician at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center.
