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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MAY 15, 2000
Leading Children's Health Advocate, Two Trustees and Three Faculty To Be Honored at Medical College Commencement Exercises, May 20
The Medical College of Wisconsin will honor a leading national advocate for the health and safety of children, two of its trustees and three distinguished faculty members at its 87th commencement exercises, Sat., May 20, at the Wisconsin Center.
Richard E. Behrman, M.D., J.D., senior vice president for medical affairs at the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health in Palo Alto, Calif.; and Medical College trustees Roger J. Fitzsimonds, M.B.A., CEO of Firstar Corporation, and William L. Randall, L.L.B., chairman - emeritus, U.S. Bank, will receive honorary Doctor of Science degrees.
Medical College faculty members Mark B. Adams, M.D., M.S., chief and professor of transplant surgery; Richard A. Cooper, M.D., director and professor of the Medical College's Health Policy Institute, and Robert H. Toohill, M.D., professor and past chairman of otolaryngology and communication sciences, will also be honored, receiving the College's Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor.
Dr. Behrman, who is also clinical professor of pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California, is being honored for his dedication to improving the lives of children and infants around the world and his contributions to the field of pediatrics, according to Medical College Dean and Executive Vice President Michael Dunn, M.D. "Dr. Behrman has focused his career on improving the health of children from the earliest moments of their lives, including much research on preventing low birth weights." Dr. Dunn said. "He is a strong advocate for more effective use of federal and community resources to improve outcomes for mothers and children regardless of socioeconomic status."
Chief among Dr. Behrman's research contributions are landmark studies of jaundice and of neonatal asphyxia, in which newborns suffer oxygen deprivation.
Board members Fitzsimonds and Randall are co-chairs of Advancing Medical Frontiers: The Campaign for the Medical College of Wisconsin. The Medical College is honoring both for their leadership, generosity and dedication to advancing medical research, according to Medical College President and CEO, T. Michael Bolger, J.D.
Fitzsimonds is a Milwaukee business leader whose name is synonymous with Firstar Bank, an association that he began as a trainee in 1964. He is a director and chairman of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and chairs the Advisory Council of the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee's School of Business.
Randall is a dedicated community leader who, for the past 34 years, has forged civic partnerships to develop educational, social service, cultural and health care programs in Metropolitan Milwaukee. As a civic leader, he is best known as the founder and first chairman of the United Performing Arts Fund.
Dr. Adams, who joined the Medical College faculty in 1978, is being honored for his outstanding contributions to transplant surgery, and national leadership status as a highly regarded medical educator and researcher. He has been a guiding force in the growth of the Froedtert & Medical College solid organ transplantation program ever since. The expansion of that program to include pediatric patients at Children Hospital resulted from his initiative. His research focuses on numerous clinical trials of anti-rejection drug therapies.
Recognized by his colleagues as a role model of reason, intelligence and dedication to quality care with the highest ethical standards, Dr. Adams has twice been named Faculty Teacher of the Year and is a nationally known and respected leader in organ allocation issues. He is currently president of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and the Wisconsin Surgical Society, and also chairs the American Society of Transplant Surgeons' ethics committee.
Dr. Cooper, who came to the Medical College in 1985 as executive vice president and dean, is being honored for his visionary leadership of the school until 1994, and his accomplishments as a researcher in cancer and blood diseases and health policy. As dean, he led the school through a period of physical expansion and growth in its international reputation, recruiting internationally distinguished faculty members and leading the development of multidisciplinary Centers of Excellence. He appreciated the importance of the new and expanding fields of health policy and health information technology, and initiated plans for the school's Health Research Center, which opened in 1998. His current research has established him as a national authority on issues affecting the health care work force, including the roles of non-physician clinicians and alternative providers. An hematologist/oncologist, Dr. Cooper is past chairman of the Association of Hematology-Oncology Program Directors. He has also served on the Association of American Medical Colleges' Executive Council and its Council of Deans. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, he established and currently leads the National Center for Multidisciplinary Workforce research.
Dr. Toohill joined the faculty in 1967 and chaired the Medical College department of otolaryngology and human communication from 1986 to 1995. He is being honored for his renowned contributions to his specialty and his exceptional gifts as a teacher and mentor. Colleagues laud his clinical skills, leadership in his specialty and work in building a department with a national reputation. His energy and dedication in teaching has shaped the field of otolaryngology by influencing the many residents who have studied under him at Froedtert Hospital. His research emphasis includes sinus disease, reconstructive techniques for the larynx and upper trachea, and the diagnosis and treatment for manifestations of reflux. Recipient of an Honors Award from the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Dr. Toohill is also past president of the Wisconsin Otolaryngological Society as well as the Medical College of Wisconsin/Marquette Medical Alumni Association.
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