When the AbbVie Foundation Cancer Pavilion opens its doors in April 2027, it will be the first-of-its-kind freestanding facility in Illinois, designed to redefine cancer care, research, and the patient experience.
The opening of the cancer pavilion will be a success many years in the making, built on the legacies of countless dedicated University of Chicago healthcare providers and innovators. The inspiring careers of John Ultmann, MD (1925–2000) and Ruth Ultmann (1927–2025) exemplify the dedication and drive that have helped lay the foundation for all that the cancer pavilion will accomplish.
An early commitment to healing
When John Ultmann was 10, his mother died of cancer, inspiring his decision to devote his life to cancer research. Ultmann and his family escaped Nazi Austria in 1938 and arrived in New York City. Ruth Ultmann was a pre-teen when she experienced Kristallnacht in her hometown in Germany and was sent to England via the Kindertransport, an organized mission to rescue Jewish children from Nazi-occupied territories.
“She was almost twelve years old,” said Michelle Ultmann, MD, daughter of John and Ruth, who said that her mother recalled comforting a four-year-old girl on the same train. “Mom ended up doing her nursing training at Charing Cross Hospital in London, because she loved taking care of people.”
“I realized as an adolescent and college student that both of my parents transformed the hardships of their early lives into a shared, generational legacy of profound healing and compassion for others,” said Monica Ultmann, MD, daughter of John and Ruth.
The Ultmanns joined the University of Chicago in 1968, where John focused on cancer research, teaching, and patient care, and Ruth worked as a nurse for over 30 years.
University of Chicago Medical Center Trustee Craig Duchossois
Research and redefining treatment
John Ultmann was particularly well known for his work on the precise staging of Hodgkin’s disease and application of staging as a guide for treatment. His pioneering work in lymphoma reshaped understanding and treatment in the field, leading to the development of more effective, less toxic therapies. He coordinated the successful application to the National Cancer Institute for the creation of the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center in 1973 and served as its first director until 1991.
Later in life, John himself was diagnosed with lymphoma, yet continued seeing patients until a few weeks before his death. When questioned by his patients about his treatment, he would tell them, “I’m testing the systems to make sure they’re working for you.”
Training future leaders
John Ultmann was known as a gifted teacher who trained many future leaders and helped build the world-renowned medical oncology program at the University of Chicago. He helped revise the medical school curriculum, bringing more contact with patients into the traditionally classroom-oriented first two years of medical education.
He and Ruth also wanted to nurture empathy and life balance in students. “One of my first memories is my parents having medical students, interns, residents, and fellows over for dinner, and I would serve hors d’oeuvres,” said Michelle.
Monica recalled her parents’ love of music and theater. They both enthusiastically supported the arts and made sure their students and trainees could do the same by establishing a fund to pay for medical students to attend cultural programs. “They both understood the grueling, emotionally draining nature of medical training, and they created this student performance fund, which continues to the present day, to support healthcare professionals,” she said.
Legacy of compassion
Beyond their commitment to research and education, John and Ruth are remembered for their deep compassion and dedication to patient care. During the 1980s, Ruth joined with other nurses and physicians in Hyde Park to open Meridian Hospice, and she volunteered with Horizon Hospice, where her husband had received care, after she retired from nursing.
John, too, made patient care the cornerstone of his practice. “I vividly remember my father caring for a young violinist receiving chemotherapy; every evening at home he would memorize the opening notes of a Mozart violin concerto, his favorite composer, and the next morning, he would whistle what he had memorized at her bedside so she could guess the piece,” said Monica.
Duchossois remembered John’s exemplary care for his mother, Beverly. “Dr. Ultmann was our mom’s oncologist during her two-and-a-half-year journey with cancer. We experienced the extraordinary dedication Dr. Ultmann gave to his patients and their loved ones—we had never experienced anything at this level before,” he said.
“After visits with mom, he would meet with the family and brief us in great detail. During these special meetings we could see his frustration with medicine’s inability to beat cancer. We saw his dedication and grit to do everything within his power to strengthen the foundational knowledge and find a cure,” he added.
The Duchossois family helped to fund Dr. Ultmann’s research and the creation of the Beverly Duchossois Cancer Laboratories in 1987. In 1994, the family provided philanthropic support for the development of the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine and the establishment of the John Ultmann Professorship.
The AbbVie Foundation Cancer Pavilion
Today, the possibilities for human health exceed what was thought possible just a decade or two ago. As the opening of the cancer pavilion approaches, Duchossois reflected on what it would have meant to the Ultmanns.
“John was brilliant and a key part of a team who built a strong foundation for cancer research. Both John and Ruth would not be surprised with the enormous progress in cancer research. They would be honored to see the University’s dedication to this undertaking with the new cancer pavilion,” he said.
Michelle Ultmann recalled that her mother was able to see the early stages of the cancer pavilion’s construction in her final years. “As I would take her back and forth to her appointments, we watched the cancer pavilion going up, and every time she would talk about how proud Dad would be to see this.”
