Chancellor Collins welcomed state Rep. Tom Sannicandro of Ashland on a campus visit on Monday.
State Representative Tom Sannicandro of Ashland, co-chair of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Higher Education, visited UMass Medical School on Monday, June 24, where he met with Chancellor Michael F. Collins and Vice Chancellor of Community and Government Relations Jim Leary and toured the Albert Sherman Center.
In his role as committee chairman, Sannicandro is the point person in the House of Representatives on all legislative proposals relating to higher education. Along with his Senate co-chair, he chairs public hearings on each bill relating to higher education to ensure that members of the public have the opportunity to be heard and leads deliberation on these bills among members of the committee as well as the legislature at large. Chairman Sannicandro has been an outspoken advocate for the link between quality higher education and economic growth in Massachusetts. To that end, he has been instrumental in leading efforts to increase state support for the University of Massachusetts and enable the five campuses of the university to maintain affordability and quality for its students.
“We welcome Chairman Sannicandro to our campus and are grateful for his longstanding support of the medical school,” said Chancellor Collins. “Since its founding over 40 years ago, UMMS has remained steadfast in its commitment to advance health care across the commonwealth and provide an affordable medical education to Massachusetts residents; at the same time, we have grown into a world-class research institution and a leader in educating tomorrow’s researchers and advanced practice nurses. We are proud of our fidelity to our founding mission and appreciative of the support from legislative leaders like Representative Sannicandro.”
"UMass Medical School is a leader in the research and innovation that is powering the Massachusetts economy and developing the next generation of medical professionals,” Sannicandro said. “It's a pleasure to visit and see the latest projects the school is embarking on."
