The Willard and Rhoda Ware Professorship of Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases III

Willard M. WareRhoda WareThe chair was established in 2016 when the value of the endowment for the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professorship of Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases increased sufficiently to support a third professorship. The original Professorship was created in 1976 through the generosity of Willard Ware (1909–1984) and his wife Rhoda Ware (1911–2008).

A distinguished alumnus of The Wharton School, Willard M. Ware was affiliated throughout his career with American Water Works Company, the business founded by his father that became the largest water utility holding company in the U.S. Through the Ware Foundation, Willard and Rhoda Ware supported programs that addressed a wide range of concerns, including poverty, health and the needs of children. Their tradition is continued by the next generation of the family today.

At the Perelman School of Medicine, the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professorship has supported leaders in the field of diabetes research.


 

MRickelsCurrent Chairholder

Michael R. Rickels, MD, MS

Michael R. Rickels, MD, MS is the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor in Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases III at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as Director of Clinical Science in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism; Director for Translational Research in the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism; and Medical Director for the Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplant Program. He completed his undergraduate degree in mathematics and biology at Colgate University. He earned medical and translational research degrees at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also trained in internal medicine and endocrinology before joining the faculty in 2005.

Dr. Rickels is an internationally recognized clinical investigator whose patient-oriented research is focused on understanding the physiology of islet function and replacement and defense against hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes and pancreatogenic forms of diabetes such as cystic fibrosis-related diabetes. This work has been continuously funded by the NIH and has contributed to the development of new therapeutic approaches in the treatment of diabetes. Dr. Rickels has served as an elected Councilor for the International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association and as Associate Editor for leading journals of the Endocrine Society and the American Diabetes Association.