Professorship for women in medicine and science established at KU

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- To encourage and recognize the achievements of women in medicine and science at the University of Kansas, a Florida philanthropist and her husband, a medical school dean, have given $500,000 for a professorship for women faculty members at the KU School of Medicine.

The gift to the Kansas University Endowment Association is from Joy McCann Daugherty and Robert "Bob" Daugherty Jr., M.D., of Tampa, Fla. The gift, which was made through the Joy McCann Foundation, will endow the Joy and Bob Daugherty Professorship for Women in Medicine and Science Fund. The professorship will be awarded to either a current or new faculty member of the school who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and mentoring of students, residents and other faculty members. The fund will be eligible for additional support through the Kansas Partnership for Faculty of Distinction.

"Dr. and Mrs. Daugherty's generosity will help KU demonstrate that the School of Medicine values women and their contributions to academic medicine," said KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway. "It will be an important tool in retaining and recruiting top women clinicians and scientists."

Barbara F. Atkinson, executive dean of the medical school, said the professorship will recognize women who act as role models for those with professional aspirations in medicine.

"It is extremely important to recognize women who provide mentoring and leadership to others," Atkinson said. "As positive role models, women who achieve high positions in medicine inspire women at any level in the school -- students, residents, faculty members -- to become leaders in their fields."

The Daugherty professorship shares a name with a professional organization geared toward a similar purpose, Atkinson said. The KU Women in Medicine and Science program provides mentoring, leadership skills development, advice for career advancement and networking, and guidance in medical and scientific achievement for women in the School of Medicine. Formed in 1999, the organization is similar to programs that exist at medical schools nationwide.

Bob, chemistry '56 and medicine '60, said he and Joy chose to support the professorship because they see a need to increase the number of women in academic positions in medicine. Although women make up 50 percent of students pursuing medical degrees, he said many don't move up into the higher academic positions.

"Nationally, there's a disproportionately low number of women professors and administrators in medicine, so we looked at how to change that," Bob said. "While KU is fortunate to have a female dean and other strong female leadership at the medical school, we felt it was important to endow a gift for women and medicine that would provide resources to further their careers and allow them to reach higher."

Previously, Joy has supported the University of South Florida Health Sciences Center through gifts for three professorships and several areas of preventative medicine. A former owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football franchise, Joy is a graduate of the University of Alabama, where she studied social work. She played on the university's men's golf team and went on to earn the state amateur golf championship both in Alabama and in Florida. She has two children, Hugh and Gay Culverhouse. Joy and Bob married in 2001.

Bob, a native of Meade, is vice president of the University of South Florida Health Sciences Center and dean of the College of Medicine. After graduating from KU, he completed his residency at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, where he also earned a doctorate in physiology in 1965. In addition to teaching and research, his career has included academic leadership posts at Michigan State University, the University of Wyoming, Indiana University and the University of Nevada, where he was professor and dean of the School of Medicine from 1981 until 1999.

Among many past and current board memberships, he served from 1994 to 2000 as a member of the American Medical Association's Liaison Committee on Medical Education, including two years as chair. The organization is responsible for the accreditation of all U.S. medical schools. Bob also is a member of the KU First Medicine Campaign Committee, which assists in fund-raising efforts for the School of Medicine during KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history.

He was married to the late Sandra Keller Daugherty, music and English '56 and medicine '60, and has three children, Robert, Allison and Christopher Daugherty.

The gift from the Daughertys counts toward the $500 million goal of KU First. KU Endowment is conducting KU First on behalf of KU through 2004 to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support. KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for KU.