2025 Stritch Medalist
A legacy of exemplary leadership, clinical care, mentorship, and community building
Stritch Medalist Eva Bading, MD, FAAFP embodies Loyola’s commitment to service and being a person for others in the Jesuit tradition
Throughout her expansive career at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Eva Bading, MD, FAAFP was a mentor, role model, and inspiration for faculty, medical students, and residents. Dr. Bading is a professor emeritus at Stritch and served as Chair of the Department of Family Medicine for 15 years. She was also an active participant for decades in the Maywood community as a clinician, educator, advocate, and fundraiser.
In recognition of her immense legacy, Dr. Bading has been awarded the Stritch Medal. It is the school’s highest honor and bestowed annually to an alumnus or faculty member who exemplifies Stritch’s mission and has made significant and meaningful contributions to educating future physicians and to the school.
“Dr. Bading is the consummate physician and extremely deserving of the Stritch Medal,” said Stritch Dean Sam J. Marzo (MD ’91). “I was very pleased to see so many current faculty at Stritch nominate her and extol her leadership and mentorship. She exemplifies the Jesuit value of being a person for others.”
Dr. Bading has received previous Stritch awards for her service and teaching, including the Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. award in 2009, Outstanding Community Service and Global Health award in 2011, and Master Teacher award in 2014. In 2018, she received the and Jack MacCarthy Service in Medicine Award, which recognizes an individual who demonstrates the embodiment of medicine as an act of faithful service.
Stritch Dean Sam J. Marzo (MD '91) and 2025 Stritch Medalist recipient Eva Bading, MD, FAAFP.
Exemplary clinical contributions
Dr. Bading joined the Department of Family Medicine of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 1998 and served as chair from 1999 to 2016. Under her leadership, the department opened clinics in Maywood, Elmwood Park, and Melrose Park, growing the department to include 17 full-time faculty treating 32,000 patients per year.
James Winger, associate professor of Family Medicine, said, “Dr. Bading has left an indelible mark on clinical practice and medical education. During her tenure as chair of Family Medicine, she recruited compassionate physicians who were interested in the betterment of the communities in which they practiced, the well-being and education of medical students, and the development of the role of Family Medicine in a large quaternary care facility.”
In addition to being an exemplary educator and mentor, Dr. Bading is known for providing high-quality, patient-centered care. As a clinician, she consistently demonstrated the practice of medicine as an act of faithful service and being a person for others.
“We referred patients to each other when I practiced Otolaryngology and she was in family practice, and I found her to be an excellent kind, compassionate, caring clinician—a physician who always gave her patients all of her attention and effort,” noted Dean Marzo.
Strengthening community
Dr. Bading has a long history of being active in the Maywood community and a deep dedication to raising awareness of the needs of the underserved and partnering with the community through service.
Amy Blair (MD ’03), assistant dean for Health Advocacy and Medical Education and professor of Family Medicine, said “Dr. Bading has consistently centered the Jesuit mission of Loyola and Stritch. She has been a model of service and giving to the community, the faculty and staff in her department, and our physicians-in-training.”
The Bading Community House, a home in Maywood founded by four Stritch students where medical students immerse themselves in the community, is named in her honor. Dr. Bading was director of Community Advocacy through Relationships and Education (CARE), which pairs medical students with families who need healthcare advocates. She has performed physicals at a Maywood high school. Additionally, she has been an advisor to a gun buyback program in Maywood. She also provided medical and fundraising support to the Maywood Fine Arts Association, a studio that provides high-quality arts instruction to children.
Mark Kuczewski, director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Leadership, said, “Dr. Bading was tireless in leading service efforts with the medical students in the local Maywood community. Her dedication to the formative experience of our physicians-in-training and community service deeply influenced two generations of Stritch students.”
Educating future leaders in medicine
Throughout her career, Dr. Bading was a mentor, role model and inspiration for many medical students who came to Stritch to pursue an educational journey to become compassionate clinicians dedicated to providing outstanding patient care.
Dr. Bading was involved with the Ignatian Service Immersion (ISI) program in which students learn about addressing social determinants of health and health disparities by immersing them in a community. Additionally, she was co-director of medical school courses on healer's art and patient-centered medicine (PCM). In Stritch’s PCM model, faculty guide students on how to navigate some of the most challenging moments in medicine. The healer’s art program is designed to cultivate the human dimensions of the practice of medicine. She also long served on Stritch's admissions committee, seeking to recruit students who understand medicine is about serving others. Dr. Bading has also led medical students on mission trips to Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.
Aaron Michelfelder (MD ’97), professor and former chair of Family Medicine, noted, “Dr. Bading has given her heart and Soul to Loyola and contributed greatly to the Stritch community. She's gone on many ISI trips, built a residency program, and started a student scholarship fund, to name a few contributions.”
Added Katherine Wasson, PhD, MPH, HEC-C, professor of Bioethics, “Dr. Bading fully embodies the spirit and actions of the Stritch Medal. She was instrumental in transforming the PCM course for the third-year medical students to incorporate critical reflection on their formation as future physicians and topics that enhance their education while aligning with the ideals of Jesuit education.”
Dr. Bading exemplifies the Jesuit value of cura personalis, or caring for the whole person, and her dedication to medical education, compassionate clinical care, mentoring the next generation of physicians, and building community have left an enduring mark at Stritch and within the broader Maywood community.
By Denise Jones
January 6, 2026
Stritch Medalist Eva Bading, MD, FAAFP embodies Loyola’s commitment to service and being a person for others in the Jesuit tradition
Throughout her expansive career at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Eva Bading, MD, FAAFP was a mentor, role model, and inspiration for faculty, medical students, and residents. Dr. Bading is a professor emeritus at Stritch and served as Chair of the Department of Family Medicine for 15 years. She was also an active participant for decades in the Maywood community as a clinician, educator, advocate, and fundraiser.
In recognition of her immense legacy, Dr. Bading has been awarded the Stritch Medal. It is the school’s highest honor and bestowed annually to an alumnus or faculty member who exemplifies Stritch’s mission and has made significant and meaningful contributions to educating future physicians and to the school.
“Dr. Bading is the consummate physician and extremely deserving of the Stritch Medal,” said Stritch Dean Sam J. Marzo (MD ’91). “I was very pleased to see so many current faculty at Stritch nominate her and extol her leadership and mentorship. She exemplifies the Jesuit value of being a person for others.”
Dr. Bading has received previous Stritch awards for her service and teaching, including the Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. award in 2009, Outstanding Community Service and Global Health award in 2011, and Master Teacher award in 2014. In 2018, she received the and Jack MacCarthy Service in Medicine Award, which recognizes an individual who demonstrates the embodiment of medicine as an act of faithful service.
Exemplary clinical contributions
Dr. Bading joined the Department of Family Medicine of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 1998 and served as chair from 1999 to 2016. Under her leadership, the department opened clinics in Maywood, Elmwood Park, and Melrose Park, growing the department to include 17 full-time faculty treating 32,000 patients per year.
James Winger, associate professor of Family Medicine, said, “Dr. Bading has left an indelible mark on clinical practice and medical education. During her tenure as chair of Family Medicine, she recruited compassionate physicians who were interested in the betterment of the communities in which they practiced, the well-being and education of medical students, and the development of the role of Family Medicine in a large quaternary care facility.”
In addition to being an exemplary educator and mentor, Dr. Bading is known for providing high-quality, patient-centered care. As a clinician, she consistently demonstrated the practice of medicine as an act of faithful service and being a person for others.
“We referred patients to each other when I practiced Otolaryngology and she was in family practice, and I found her to be an excellent kind, compassionate, caring clinician—a physician who always gave her patients all of her attention and effort,” noted Dean Marzo.
Strengthening community
Dr. Bading has a long history of being active in the Maywood community and a deep dedication to raising awareness of the needs of the underserved and partnering with the community through service.
Amy Blair (MD ’03), assistant dean for Health Advocacy and Medical Education and professor of Family Medicine, said “Dr. Bading has consistently centered the Jesuit mission of Loyola and Stritch. She has been a model of service and giving to the community, the faculty and staff in her department, and our physicians-in-training.”
The Bading Community House, a home in Maywood founded by four Stritch students where medical students immerse themselves in the community, is named in her honor. Dr. Bading was director of Community Advocacy through Relationships and Education (CARE), which pairs medical students with families who need healthcare advocates. She has performed physicals at a Maywood high school. Additionally, she has been an advisor to a gun buyback program in Maywood. She also provided medical and fundraising support to the Maywood Fine Arts Association, a studio that provides high-quality arts instruction to children.
Mark Kuczewski, director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Leadership, said, “Dr. Bading was tireless in leading service efforts with the medical students in the local Maywood community. Her dedication to the formative experience of our physicians-in-training and community service deeply influenced two generations of Stritch students.”
Educating future leaders in medicine
Throughout her career, Dr. Bading was a mentor, role model and inspiration for many medical students who came to Stritch to pursue an educational journey to become compassionate clinicians dedicated to providing outstanding patient care.
Dr. Bading was involved with the Ignatian Service Immersion (ISI) program in which students learn about addressing social determinants of health and health disparities by immersing them in a community. Additionally, she was co-director of medical school courses on healer's art and patient-centered medicine (PCM). In Stritch’s PCM model, faculty guide students on how to navigate some of the most challenging moments in medicine. The healer’s art program is designed to cultivate the human dimensions of the practice of medicine. She also long served on Stritch's admissions committee, seeking to recruit students who understand medicine is about serving others. Dr. Bading has also led medical students on mission trips to Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.
Aaron Michelfelder (MD ’97), professor and former chair of Family Medicine, noted, “Dr. Bading has given her heart and Soul to Loyola and contributed greatly to the Stritch community. She's gone on many ISI trips, built a residency program, and started a student scholarship fund, to name a few contributions.”
Added Katherine Wasson, PhD, MPH, HEC-C, professor of Bioethics, “Dr. Bading fully embodies the spirit and actions of the Stritch Medal. She was instrumental in transforming the PCM course for the third-year medical students to incorporate critical reflection on their formation as future physicians and topics that enhance their education while aligning with the ideals of Jesuit education.”
Dr. Bading exemplifies the Jesuit value of cura personalis, or caring for the whole person, and her dedication to medical education, compassionate clinical care, mentoring the next generation of physicians, and building community have left an enduring mark at Stritch and within the broader Maywood community.
By Denise Jones
January 6, 2026