The William W. Root Society was established in 2014 at the University of Illinois College of Medicine to celebrate the generosity of those individuals who believe deeply in the critical mission of the college to enhance the health of the citizens of Illinois and the nation through the education of physicians, biomedical scientists and innovators, advancement of the knowledge of health and disease, and the provision of health care in a setting of education and research.

Individuals who have contributed $100,000 or more cumulatively are Lifetime Members of the society, and those who contribute $10,000 or more in a given fiscal year are considered Annual Members for that following fiscal year.

William Webster Root was a founding member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society on our Chicago campus in 1902. William W. Root, along with five medical students at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which later became the University of Illinois College of Medicine, sought to elevate the quality of physicians being educated at the time and established the society’s motto “worthy to serve the suffering.” In 1912, after only ten years there were 17 chapters of the society across the United States and it soon became a mark of prestige to have an AΩA chapter at one’s medical school.

Just as Root and the AΩA honor medical society enriched the quality of medical education, Root Society Members are advancing medical education, research and patient care through mission-inspired philanthropy, ensuring that inspired medicine continues to happen here.