Mayo Clinic Trustees Name New Members, Elect Officers and Honor New Professors

Friday, February 18, 2011

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees welcomed new members, elected officers and recognized three awardees of Mayo Clinic named professorships.

Hugh Price, former president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League, was elected as Emeritus Trustee.

Veronique Roger, M.D., and Jeffrey Bolton were named internal trustees for four-year terms. Robert Brigham was elected to a one-year term as internal trustee.

Nina Schwenk, M.D., Jeffrey Korsmo and Craig Smoldt were recognized for completion of their service as internal trustees.

Mayo Clinic's 2011 officers include Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chair; John Noseworthy, M.D., president and chief executive officer; three vice presidents: Shirley Weis, chief administrative officer, William Rupp, M.D., and Victor Trastek, M.D.; Jeffrey Bolton, chief financial officer; Jonathan Oviatt, secretary; and Harry Hoffman, treasurer.

The trustees also honored three Mayo Clinic named professors.

Larry Baddour, M.D., chair of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, is recognized as the HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Professor of Infectious Diseases Honoring Walter R. Wilson, M.D. HH Sheikh Khalifa is president of the United Arab Emirates, and established this professorship in gratitude for the care his family has received from Dr. Wilson. He is the eldest son of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, former president of the United Arab Emirates and a Mayo benefactor who provided support for the Mayo Clinic Zayed Cardiovascular Center. The Al-Nahyan family shares many values with Drs. William J. and Charles H. Mayo: respect for the individual, decision making by consensus, and support for education and research as the keys to a better future.

Dr. Baddour has served as principal investigator in numerous research projects and his work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Circulation. He holds the academic rank of professor of medicine. His research has focused primarily on cardiovascular infections and skin and soft tissue infections. He has investigated several aspects of both native tissue and medical device infections that involve the cardiovascular system, including infective endocarditis, pacemaker and defibrillator infections, and vascular graft infections. Regarding skin and soft tissue infections, he provided the initial description of recurrent cellulitis complicating saphenous venectomy in coronary bypass graft patients in 1982 and an early description of breast cellulitis complicating breast conservation therapy.

Gary Sieck, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Physiology & Biomedical Engineering, dean for research academic affairs and deputy director for research, is recognized as the Vernon F. and Earline D. Dale Professor. The professorship was established in 1977 through a gift from the late Earline Dale of Onalaska, Wis. Vernon Dale was a visionary and entrepreneur who started and ran several successful business ventures. At age 13, he opened a bicycle repair shop. He later sold Harley-Davidson motorcycles, opened Dale's Super Service Garage and started the Onalaska Transportation Company in Wisconsin. He was the general manager of Bump Pump Co. and partner in Metallics, a company that manufactured nameplates. He later founded and was president of Outers Laboratories, a manufacturer of outdoor recreational equipment and gun-cleaning supplies.

Dr. Sieck, who holds the academic rank of professor of physiology and anesthesiology, is also the director of the Biomedical Engineering Program, Mayo Graduate School. His research focuses on neuromuscular physiology. In skeletal muscles, he has explored neuromuscular plasticity related to spinal cord injury and muscle weakness associated with intensive care and age-related sarcopenia. In airway smooth muscle, he has examined abnormalities in intracellular calcium regulation and excitation-coupling associated with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Dr. Sieck serves as president of the American Physiological Society and the Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology. He is an elected fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, has served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Physiology and is a member of several editorial boards.

P. Leif Bergsagel, M.D., a consultant in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, with a joint appointment in Basic Sciences, Research Laboratories, is recognized as the David F. and Margaret T. Grohne Research Professor of Therapeutics for Cancer Research. The professorship was established through the generosity of David F. and Margaret T. Grohne of Wilmington, Ill., and Sarasota, Fla. Mr.Grohne is chairman of the board of Independence Tube Corp., where Mrs. Grohne also served as secretary. The company, headquartered in Chicago, manufactures structural steel tubing. The Grohnes have provided support for Mayo Clinic in Arizona and Rochester, including gifts to pulmonary research and medical research.

Dr. Bergsagel's research focuses on multiple myeloma, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, amyloidosis and Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. His research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, among other organizations. He holds the academic rank of professor of medicine.

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 Mayo benefactors who recognize Mayo's role in pursuing answers in health and medicine. 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.

The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees, a 31-member group of public representatives and Mayo Clinic physicians and administrators, is responsible for patient care, medical education and research activities at Mayo Clinic's sites in Jacksonville, Fla.; Rochester, Minn.; and Scottsdale and Phoenix, Ariz.

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