Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Feinberg’s Medical Faculty Council awarded Allen Heinemann, PhD, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, the 2025 Mentor of the Year Award. The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation houses the Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center. Heinemann is also director of the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.
Megan McHugh, PhD, professor of emergency medicine, who submitted the nomination, said that while his impact as a scholar is remarkable, with over 500 peer-reviewed publications and more than 25,000 citations, the award recognized Heinemann for how he has brought others along with him.
“Allen embodies everything the Mentor of the Year Award stands for: excellence, generosity, humility and a deep and abiding commitment to lifting others up,” McHugh said.
Heinemann joined the faculty at Northwestern in 1985 after earning his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Kansas with a specialty focus in rehabilitation.
“This is not about me. This is not about the fellowship program and the mentoring I’ve done. It’s about the people, whose lives intersect ours, who we learn to love and care about, and want good things to happen to,” he said.
