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New UI faculty
position will focus on health care for rural Iowa families
Posted November
2, 2000
IOWA CITY -- The Iowa Academy of Family Physicians
(IAFP) and the University of Iowa Foundation have raised more than $1.5
million to establish the first endowed chair in the Department of Family
Medicine in the UI College of Medicine. The chair will focus on issues
surrounding the delivery of top-quality health care to rural Iowa families.
The physician selected in a nationwide search to fill the Iowa Academy
of Family Physicians Endowed Chair in Rural Medicine will provide leadership
to the UI's family practice researchers and strategic direction in the
development of a rural-research network in the state of Iowa.
Dr. Cynda Johnson, head of the UI Department of Family Medicine, hailed
the endowment of the chair as an important step forward for Iowa families
and the physicians who serve them.
"In Iowa, family physicians are the primary health care providers, particularly
for our rural population. To support these physicians and to encourage
more young professionals to focus on rural family medicine, it is essential
that the UI continue to provide leadership and develop practical ideas
that are effective in the real world of rural health care. The physician
who holds this chair will be integral to ensuring we can do just that,"
Johnson said.
The success of the endowed chair fund-raising campaign was celebrated
at the Des Moines Club in Des Moines on October 26, 2000, during the
IAFP's annual meeting. At the celebration, contributors to the campaign
heard remarks from several speakers underscoring the importance of the
new faculty position to Iowa families, the physicians who serve them,
and the UI.
More than 125 individuals, companies and organizations contributed to
the campaign, including Pioneer Hi-Bred International, based in Des
Moines, which gave $25,000. The Department of Family Medicine expects
to announce the chairholder in 2001.
The campaign for the IAFP Endowed Chair in Rural Medicine is part of
the University's planned comprehensive campaign to advance the UI's
strategic goals for the years 2000-2005.
The comprehensive campaign, which is in its early stages and for which
no final dollar goal has been established, will be conducted under the
guidance of the UI Foundation and will raise funds to:
- substantially increase the number of endowed
faculty chairs and professorships, as well as the number of UI merit-
and need-based scholarships;
- support eight new educational and research
facilities;
- fund outreach and service programs to benefit
individuals, families and communities throughout the state of Iowa;
- build the UI's endowment; and
- launch new initiatives in the arts, sciences,
business, health care and other fields.
The UI Foundation is the preferred channel for
private contributions to all areas of the university. Foundation staff
work with alumni and friends to generate funds for endowed chairs and
professorships, research, scholarships, facilities improvements, equipment
purchases and other UI initiatives.
Contact Information
Sheila
Baldwin
Assistant Director of Development, Departmental Campaigns, College of
Medicine/University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
(319) 335-3305 or (800) 648-6973
Additional information about supporting the UI College
of Medicine also is available on this site.
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