CHICAGO – Following a 25-year career in the UIC athletic department, beloved staff member Mike Gilmartin announced his retirement effective at the end of July. 

 

Gilmartin joined the UIC staff in August of 1997 as the head athletic trainer before being promoted to assistant athletic director for sports medicine in 2006. Mike G, as he's affectionately known, held that role until 2018 when he moved into the UIC administration as an associate athletic director. 

 

A veteran in the athletic training industry, Gilmartin began his career as a student athletic trainer at the University of Illinois before transferring to Elmhurst College where he continued his athletic training education before graduating in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in athletic training and physical education. 

 

Upon his graduation, Gilmartin held collegiate athletic training jobs at his alma mater, Elmhurst College, and Northwestern for six years before joining the Flames family in 1997, just in time for the first NCAA Tournament appearance for the men's basketball program under the late Jimmy Collins. 

 

Outside of his collegiate stops, Gilmartin has also had the honor of assisting with the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival in St. Louis, the Prairie State Games, the NBA Pre-Draft Camp held in Chicago and the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. His work allowed him assist some of the top athletes in the world, including Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. 

 

Throughout his illustrious career, Gilmartin worked alongside hundreds of coaches and UIC staff members while assisting thousands of student-athletes in the rehab and recovery process. 

 

Joined alongside his wife, Julie, and daughter, Annie, Gilmartin was celebrated by the UIC athletic department at a going away dinner this week. During the festivities, it was announced that friends, colleagues, current and former student-athletes, and more had come together to raise more than $15,000 to send the Gilmartin family on an all-expenses paid trip to Italy as a small thank you for all that Mike has done for the Flames.