UConn Health’s Department of Neurosurgery recently welcomed Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun for a powerful and personal presentation as part of the Calhoun Leadership Initiative, created within the department to inspire the next generation of clinical and academic leaders. Widely regarded as one of the greatest program builders in college basketball history, Coach Calhoun shared timeless leadership insights with faculty, staff, residents, medical students, and the administrative team at the Brain and Spine Institute demonstrating how the principles that built a basketball dynasty can equally strengthen the foundation of excellence in health care.
During his celebrated coaching career at the University of Connecticut, Calhoun led his teams to three NCAA National Championships, seven Big East titles, and more than two dozen NBA careers. Beyond the accolades, he is known for his passion, fierce loyalty, and unique ability to inspire individuals to rise as a team.
Now, through the Calhoun Leadership Initiative, established by Dr. Ketan Bulsara, Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, those same leadership principles are being shared with the department’s rising clinical and academic talent. Bulsara saw in Coach Calhoun a model for building high-performance teams, facilitating excellence, and leading through adversity. He believes these lessons are essential for shaping a neurosurgery program that not only meets the highest standards in medicine, but one that leads with heart, resilience, and unity.
For Calhoun, leadership isn’t theoretical, it’s deeply personal. He believes stories are life lessons, and one of his most profound came at age 15. After scoring the winning basket in an all-star game, he returned home to the unthinkable his father had died from a heart attack. As the oldest son in a large family, he traded scholarship offers for a job cutting stone to help support them. Eventually, coaches and mentors helped him find his way back to college, and his life’s path changed.
What once seemed like the worst day of his life, he now calls the best, it shaped the futures of his entire family. His brother would go on to become a cardiologist, his sister a cardiac nurse, and Calhoun and his wife became major donors to the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health. It’s a story of loss, grit, and the power of purpose.
Jim Calhoun didn’t just build a basketball legacy he built a playbook for life. For those lucky enough to hear him speak, his words land like leadership mantras:
“Win the day.”
“Self-worth begins within.”
“Whatever you put your name on—you own it.”
“You can’t be great without greatness around you.”
Every lesson reinforces a core belief: that leadership is about lifting others, owning your role, and rising to meet each moment with intention.
“Coach Calhoun has an innate ability to make people believe in the greatest of great dreams and empower them to accomplish them. He has selflessly inspired and continues to inspire countless people who went onto achieve national and international acclaim. All of them credit him for their success and can’t wait to share their achievements with him. He is truly a leader’s leader. His lessons cover all aspects of life. I am truly grateful to him for his continued inspiration as we build on this initiative. I am also grateful to the leadership of our School of Medicine and Hospital for their commitment to making our medical center one of the premier academic centers in the country,” says Bulsara.
Through the Calhoun Leadership Initiative, Bulsara is confident that the department will continue to grow as a team that leads with integrity, supports one another relentlessly, and never forgets the power of purpose-driven work. In medicine, as in basketball, the greatest victories come from believing in something bigger than yourself and then giving everything you have to it.
