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Leaders and Legends
150 Celebrate 40th Anniversary and “Legends and Leaders” Wall Of Honor Friday, June 5 -- 150 people tonight packed the University of Minnesota Medical School-Duluth’s atrium for the dedication of the new Duluth Medical School Legends and Leaders Wall of Honor and sculpture. The 40-year milestone memorialized the 1969 legislation that started the School, and the event honored the many deans, charter faculty, philanthropists and community leaders who supported its mission. As host of the event, Senior Associate Dean Gary Davis explained that, when he began his tenure, he realized that the school was void of anything that celebrated the school’s mission or recognized its builders. He directed that a Wall of Honor be constructed to recognize the people and organizations, called Duluth Medical School Legends and Leaders, who started this school and contributed in ways that would make it thrive. “As we enter our 40th year, we are a healthy medical school, achieving nationally-recognized results in educating students to become physicians working in primary care in rural and Native American communities,” commented Davis. “Achieving that mission is more vital today than ever, and one purpose of the sculpture and Wall is to remind us of that and inspire us to continue to serve Minnesota.” The Wall of Honor recognizes: donors who supported programs, buildings, research and scholarships with gifts of $10,000 or more or who specified a gift to the school in their wills; founding and charter faculty; founding physicians – a group of local physicians who became the first teachers and administrators; Duluth legislators who passed key bills in 1969 and 1974 to develop the curriculum, hire founding faculty and fund the building; community leaders who advocated for the school; and UMD administrators in the early 70s. Their names are on 182 nameplates on the Wall which also has open space to recognize those who will be honored in the future. Complete list. Capturing the spirit of the evening, Duluth Mayor Don Ness said to the crowd, “The most important thing that I appreciate about this event is that it truly celebrates people. People make things happen in this community, and I am proud to be among you tonight to recognize those people who built this school which serves us all in Minnesota.” During the event, individuals selected from each category read each of the names on the Wall. - Lota Carter: Deans. Carter is the spouse of the first dean, Robert Carter, MD. She traveled from her home in New Mexico for the celebration.
- Beverly Betten Goldfine: Community Leaders. Her late husband, Erwin Goldfine, was a major supporter of the UMD Medical School and was a Regent of the University.
- Alfred France: Legislators and Congressmen. In 1969 France was among the Duluth legislators who fought for the initial funding of the school.
- Ricard Puumala, MD: Founding Physicians. Puumala’s father, the late Reino Puumala, was a Founding physician.
- Charter and Founding Faculty: Richard Eisenberg, Ph.D. a founding and current faculty member.
- John Sanford and Julie Moller Sanford, MDs: Heritage Society. The Heritage Society is composed of individuals who will leave a gift to the school in their estate.
- John Streitz, Sr. MD, Gail Baldwin, MD, and James Boulger, PhD.: Major Donors. Streitz is also a Founding physician; Baldwin is an alumnus; and Boulger is among the charter and current faculty.
- Vincent Magnuson: UMD Administrators. Magnuson is Vice Chancellor of UMD.
- Mark Parsons: Organizations. Parsons is an executive at the Minnesota Medical Foundation which supports the school.
Other speakers included: - Jane Frees-Kluth, the artist who created the sculpture.
- Deborah Powell, MD, Dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School
- Alan Johns, MD, a Duluth physician and medical school adjunct professor who was among the first graduates of the school, and Thomas Maust, a fourth-year student, spoke for alumni and students.
- Lillian Repesh, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, Richard Hoffman, Ph.D. Associate Dean for Education and Curriculum, and George Trachte, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development spoke about how philanthropy supports scholarships, programs and research.
In her remarks, Kluth told the honorees that creating this sculpture became a very personal project. She described how she took plaster impressions from nature surrounding Lake Superior to create the base of the figure. She also read an original poem, Woman and the Lake, written by Lori Sanchez, a UMD janitor who works at the Medical School. Sanchez, a published poet, was inspired to write the poem as she witnessed the construction of the Wall and the sculpture. The sculpture and Wall of Honor was paid for entirely with personal donations from: - Two people who wish to remain anonymous
- The family of Robert Carter, the first dean
- Gary Davis, senior associate dean
- The family and Friends of the late Malcolm Fifield, one of the founding physicians
- Vicky and Ron Franks, a former dean
- Frances and Joseph Leek, a founding physician
- Jacqueline and Paul Royce, a former dean
- Ruth Westra, the Chair of the Family Medicine department
A scholarship has been established to honor the Duluth Medical School Legends and Leaders. To learn about supporting the scholarship, please call Michelle Juntunen at 218.726.6876 or maj@mmf.umn.edu.
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