In advance of the 2022 Alice W. Chandler Staff Service Recognition Ceremony, we’re profiling some of the staff members who are celebrating this year the longest tenures at the University. The AWC awards are set for Thursday, June 30. You can view the livestream of the ceremony, beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT, plus check out the full list of honorees on the UChicago Intranet.

Kathleen “Kathi” Stark celebrates year 45 at UChicago. She started at the University soon after high school as a file clerk in medical billing before attending coding school and landing in her current role. 

She answered our questions about her interests and experiences:

Q: What initially brought you to the University? What role were you in then? 
I fell in love with the University of Chicago at about age 13, when I would visit the campus with my dad, who worked here as a building engineer. My uncle also worked at UChicago as an electrical engineer, and we had a family friend who worked at the steam plant. The mystery and wonder of this campus lead to my decision to apply for a job here 46 years ago. My first job after high school was as a file clerk in what then called Professional Services.
 
Q: How has your role changed over the past 45 years? 
After starting out as a file clerk, I moved into medical insurance billing for about 10 years. I went through what I would call a normal career growth over the years, working various positions in the UChicago Department of Surgery until I went to school and became a certified medical coder in 2005. It has become my favorite role and one I knew from the start I would stay in until I retired.

Q: Where are you originally from? 
Chicago’s South suburbs.

Q: What do you enjoy most about your role? 
I love surgery coding—it is never boring. (Medical coders update patient records with standardized information needed for data management and billing purposes—every time a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare provider performs a service, a code is assigned to each diagnosis and procedure.) I have an amazing department, my boss, Kim Colgan, Director of Clinical Revenue, is the best to work for. You cannot find a better team than ours!  

Q: What is it that you enjoy about UChicago? What’s kept you here all these years? 
I love the campus, in addition to the fact I have come full circle in both personal growth and made many good memories. After discovering UChicago’s campus with my dad as a teenager, I later brought my kids, and now, my grandkids—to see it through their eyes is like discovering it again each time. 

I love walking the Midway early in the morning and watching the sun come up over the buildings, and at dusk, watching it fade. I’ve stayed because I’ve never had a bad enough day to leave, and no amount of money is worth giving up the peace I feel here. 

Q: What are your favorite UChicago memories from over the years? 
There are many because of the many advances in medicine. One that stands out was talking to the father of the first parent-to-child liver transplant patient. He was standing outside while his daughter was in surgery, and just hearing the gratefulness in his voice that his little girl’s life was being saved here, by the University of Chicago. We did that! It will stick with me forever.

I was lucky to be on this campus with my uncle when they put on plays on summer nights in the Court Theatre and see the beauty of these building and the gargoyles against a midnight sky. I got to climb the stairs of Rockefeller Chapel to the carillon. As a young employee, I had the chance to walk through tunnels, knew the schedule when the “Brach Foundation” tulips got planted and later saw them bloom, and knew where to find the little hidden cafes and coffee shops, and the old bakery at Ida Noyes Hall. To watch the change of the seasons, new buildings become old, I have many memories of this beautiful, fascinating campus. I encourage everyone to take a walk to discover it all—it is so worth it.

Q: What do you enjoy doing outside of work? 
Spending time with my grandkids and other family. I also enjoy gardening, learning about history, reading, and traveling.