The Illinoize 2020 Illinoisan of the Year: Dr. Ngozi Ezike
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, is The Illinoize 2020 Illinoisan of the Year.
Name any of the last five Directors of the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Can’t do it? You’re probably not alone.
That was likely the public profile Dr. Ngozi Ezike was going for when she took the job at the beginning of the Pritzker administration in 2019.
Then 2020 happened.
Ezike, the Harvard-educated pediatrician became a non-political figure sometimes providing a calming, science-based voice to Governor JB Pritzker’s sometimes controversial mitigations, restrictions, and edicts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ezike received far and away the most nominations for The Illinoize “Illinoisan of the Year” award in our first award.
She could probably make a lot more money doing something else or seeing patients in a big office building in the suburbs with a 9-5 job. Instead, Ezike has made a commitment to public health her life’s work.
Before taking the top job at IDPH, Ezike served for more than 15 years with Cook County Health.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike speaks during a COVID-19 news conference earlier this year.
She became a constant reminder, each day, begging the public to wear a mask when out in the community to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Besides the PR aspect of the job, Ezike has been responsible for much of the state’s response to the pandemic.
In a July interview with Illinois Public Media, Ezike effortlessly bounced between discussing the growth of cases in young people, masks and social distancing, and the potential re-opening of schools.
She even responded to those who weren’t responsive to the statewide mask mandate.
“We really want to be able to speak to the people we need to speak to,” she said. “We need to make sure people hear the right information, the accurate information.”
Neither the Illinois Department of Public Health nor the Governor’s office would make Ezike available for this story.
In October, Ezike made headlines when she broke down momentarily during a COVID-19 news conference as numbers started to spike.
“I don’t know what else we can say,” she said through tears as the fall surge was upon the state, urging the public to wear masks.
Each day she repeated her comments in Spanish to help reach another large segment of Illinois residents with vital information.
She has been praised for her non-political approach to the pandemic, though has been the target of protestors and attacks online and even in front of her suburban Chicago home.
Because of her handling of the generational pandemic, compassion, thoughtfulness, and decency, The Illinoize is proud to name Dr. Ngozi Ezike as 2020 Illinoisan of the Year.