Awards

IU South Bend Distinguished Alumni Award - 2020

About Michael L. Blakesley

Michael L. Blakesley grew up in an Elkhart County farm family. After graduating from what was then called Elkhart High School, Blakesley enrolled at IU South Bend, where he studied mathematics and chemistry and earned a bachelor's degree in 1974. Blakesley was accepted at the IU School of Medicine to continue his education after graduation from IU South Bend. His first year of medical school was spent in South Bend at what was then called The South Bend Center for Medical Education. Blakesley went on to complete the last three years of medical school in Indianapolis and earned his Doctor of Medicine in 1978.

Blakesley returned to South Bend for a residency in family medicine at Memorial Hospital and realized quickly that he was more interested in emergency medicine (EM). After completing his residency where he gained substantial EM experience, he immediately began a career in emergency medicine at Memorial Hospital that ultimately spanned 34 years.

In 1986, Professor O'Malley, a former professor of Blakesley's, asked if he would be interested in proctoring medical students in the dissection lab. This began his secondary career of teaching human anatomy to IU School of Medicine-South Bend (IUSM-SB) first-year medical students. Blakesley is now an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology. As a physician educator Blakesley has helped mold generations of students from this region who stay to practice medicine in South Bend. Highly respected by his peers, Blakesley and his teaching partner David Halperin were named the 2014 IU School of Medicine-South Bend Outstanding Physicians of the Year. This is IUSM-SB's peer-selected and most prestigious award.

Blakesley retired from clinical emergency medicine practice after more than 40 years of service; however, he continues to manage the business side of the practice for the emergency medicine physician group at Memorial. He and Halperin continue to teach anatomy to first-year medical students and to Notre Dame undergraduates at the IU School of Medicine-South Bend. In support of Indiana University, Blakesley established the Blakesley-O'Malley 50th Anniversary Scholarship Endowment.

In 2020, Blakesley was presented the IU South Bend Distinguished Alumni Award.