Mayo Clinic Trustees Welcome Brokaw, Elect Officers, Honor Named Professors

Friday, February 15, 2008

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees welcomed Thomas (Tom) Brokaw as a new member, elected officers, named vice presidents to oversee Mayo Clinic's strategic priorities and recognized three awardees of Mayo Clinic named professorships.

Brokaw, an award-winning journalist, joins the 31-member group of public representatives and Mayo Clinic physicians and administrators that is responsible for patient care, medical education and research activities at Mayo Clinic campuses in Jacksonville, Fla.; Rochester, Minn.; and Scottsdale and Phoenix, Ariz. Brokaw was a White House correspondent for "NBC News" during Watergate and was anchor of "Today," from 1976 to 1981. He co-anchored "NBC Nightly News," and was named sole anchor in 1983. In addition to his optimistic and easygoing delivery of the news, he was the first American journalist to cover many crucial international issues. He covered every presidential election from 1968 through 2004.

Patricia Mitchell and Ronald Olson were re-elected to four-year terms as public trustees, while Franklyn Prendergast, M.D., Ph.D., and Jeff Korsmo were elected as internal trustees with one-year terms.

Mayo Clinic's 2008 officers include President and CEO Denis Cortese, M.D. and five vice presidents: George Bartley, M.D., Glenn Forbes, M.D., Nina Schwenk, M.D., Victor Trastek, M.D. and Shirley Weis, Mayo Clinic chief administrative officer.

The trustees also honored three Mayo Clinic named professors.

James Garrity, M.D., received the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Professorship in Ophthalmology, which was established in honor of Robert Waller, M.D., former Mayo Clinic CEO. Mr. MacMillan is the former chair and CEO of Cargill, the world's largest agricultural and commodity-trading concern. He was a Mayo Clinic public trustee from 1984 to 1997 and later served on the Advisory Council to the President. Dr. Garrity is a scientific reviewer for multiple academic journals and is a sought-after lecturer and teacher. The American Academy of Ophthalmology awarded him the Senior Honor Award. At Mayo Clinic, he has provided departmental leadership through chairing the Clinical Practice Committee and serving on the Executive Committee and as the Department of Ophthalmology's section head for External Diseases. He received the Mayo Distinguished Clinician Award. His institutional leadership roles include serving on the Innovation Work Group, the International Relations Committee, the International Visitors Council and the Rochester International Activities Committee.

Sandra Gendler, Ph.D., was named the David F. and Margaret T. Grohne Research Professor in Therapeutics for Cancer Research. David Grohne is chairman of the board of Independence Tube Corporation, and Margaret Grohne serves as secretary. Headquartered in Chicago, the company has approximately 100 employees and is a leading manufacturer of square and rectangular structural steel tubing. Dr. Gendler, a biochemist and molecular biologist, has served on the Mayo Clinic Arizona Research Committee for 13 years and on the Cancer Committee since 1997. She was named a Distinguished Mayo Investigator in 2004, and has organized international workshops on mucins (proteins covered by sugar found in tumors and lining tissues).

Richard Vile, Ph.D., a consultant in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Department of Immunology at Mayo Clinic Rochester, was honored with The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Professorship. Established in 2005, this is one of two professorships that recognize outstanding physicians and scientists who are internationally renowned for their work in cancer research and novel therapeutics. Schulze is founder and chairman of Best Buy Co., Inc., president of The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation and chairman of the Best Buy Children's Foundation. Dr. Vile has served as associate editor for Gene Therapy and the Journal of Gene Medicine, and has been a principal investigator, co-investigator and consultant for research funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, among other organizations. The aims of his research laboratory are the development of targeted and efficient vectors for the delivery of cytotoxic and immunostimulatory genes for the gene therapy of cancer.

Named professorships at Mayo Clinic represent the highest academic distinction for a faculty member. Faculty are appointed to a professorship through nomination and endorsement of their peers and then confirmed by Mayo Clinic senior leadership. Appointed individuals are recognized for distinguished achievement in their specialty areas and service to the institution.

These professorships are named in honor of the benefactors. The gift funds, which may be unrestricted or focused on a specific medical area, are held in endowment. All income from the endowed professorships supports Mayo Clinic programs in medical education and research.

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