UAB President Ray L. Watts, M.D., presenting the President’s Medal to Marnix E. Heersink, M.D.The University of Alabama at Birmingham presented the 2024 President’s Medal to Marnix E. Heersink, M.D., during the graduate commencement ceremony Saturday, Dec. 14. The President’s Medal recognizes Heersink’s exemplary service to UAB.
Heersink, an internationally respected innovator, entrepreneur, eye surgeon and philanthropist, and his wife of 46 years, Mary Parks Heersink, have supported UAB and numerous organizations and initiatives aimed at improving health, education and economic development throughout Alabama and beyond.
The President’s Medal recognizes individuals who have attained scholarly distinction and/or rendered distinguished service to UAB; it is one of the highest honors bestowed by UAB.
“I am deeply honored to receive the UAB President’s Medal and wish to express my heartfelt gratitude for this meaningful recognition,” Heersink said. “This award is not only a testament to the values of excellence and innovation that UAB represents but also a profound reminder of the enduring relationship my family and I have cherished with this esteemed university.”
“UAB is deeply grateful for the Heersinks’ tremendous support and partnership that is accelerating vital efforts in education, patient care, research and innovation,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. “This extraordinary service to our university is helping UAB to have an even greater impact in improving and saving lives across our state, nation and world.”
“For many years, UAB has been at the forefront of providing outstanding medical care, education and groundbreaking research — contributions that have profoundly enriched our community and beyond,” Heersink said. “Personally, and as a family, we are immensely grateful for the opportunities and advancements that UAB has made possible, helping to elevate health care standards statewide. Our shared passion for improving health care across Alabama finds its strongest ally in UAB, whose leadership and vision continue to inspire transformative change. This shared commitment makes receiving this recognition even more special, and I am truly humbled by the honor.”
In 2023, the Heersink Family Foundation’s generosity helped to usher in a new era in UAB’s cutting-edge medical education curriculum with the opening of the Heersink Family Active Learning Center in Volker Hall. The setup and technology within the space have transitioned us away from lecture-based learning into a flipped classroom environment that promotes peer-based education and collaboration.
The Heersink family gifted $2.3 million to UAB in April 2024 to establish three endowed scholarships supporting health professions, optometry and pre-optometry students. The gift is expected to have a boomerang effect — incentivizing UAB-educated health care professionals to return to the Wiregrass area for internships, thereby increasing health care options for residents in the medically underserved corner of the state.
Volker Hall, the medical education hub of the Heersink School of Medicine, was originally constructed in the early 1970s and has undergone numerous additions and renovations over the intervening decades to meet the evolving needs of the school’s medical students. In 2025, a new atrium will be unveiled thanks in part to generous funds provided by the Heersink Family Foundation. The Heersink family has been partnering with UAB’s Planning, Design and Construction group to help realize their vision for Volker Hall’s new front entrance facing University Boulevard that clearly identifies the building as Volker Hall and as part of the Heersink School of Medicine. This will be the first street-level entrance for Volker Hall in the modern age. The atrium’s interior will include generous natural light, plantings, intimate seating and warm finishes throughout.
Marnix E. Heersink, M.D., and Mary Parks HeersinkThe Heersinks have made several other important investments in UAB, including the Heersink Family Endowed Ophthalmologic Glaucoma Fellowship, the Heersink Family Foundation Scholarship Endowment in Optometry and the Heersink Family Foundation Endowed Scholarship in Health Professions.
Additionally, Heersink’s leadership has been central to the opening of UAB School of Dentistry’s first satellite clinic, UAB Dentistry Dothan, a first-of-its-kind facility aimed at improving dental health in the Wiregrass region, advancing dental research and training dental students for rural practice.
“Thank you for this distinction and for the extraordinary work that UAB continues to do for the betterment of lives in Alabama and beyond,” Heersink said. “It is a privilege to support and celebrate such an institution.”
Beyond UAB, the Heersinks have provided support and service to many other organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, the Netherland-America Foundation, the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, Boys and Girls Club of Alabama, the Wiregrass Museum of Art, and Houston Academy.
Heersink graduated magna cum laude from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, where he earned both bachelor’s and medical degrees. Following his medical training, the Heersinks moved to Dothan, Alabama, where he co-founded Eye Center South in 1980, which now has 12 locations in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The flagship facility, through thoughtful planning and design, was renovated and expanded to form the campus of Health Center South, which is now home to several thriving businesses and provides comprehensive general eye care as well as specialty surgical eye care at Alabama’s first and top-ranked outpatient surgical center.