Endowed Chairs are a Reflection of Excellence

Good morning!

Last night I had the pleasure of presiding at a ceremony to award the James E. Keeton, M.D. Chair of Pediatric Urology to Dr. Mark Barraza, associate professor of surgery and urology and chief of pediatric urology.  This is one of the parts of my job that I enjoy the very most – recognizing and rewarding excellence.

The chair was established in honor of Dr. Jimmy Keeton, who I succeeded as vice chancellor for health affairs and medical school dean in 2015.  Jimmy is, of course, well known around here, but not everyone is aware that before he joined the UMMC administration and became so visible, he had a long and distinguished career as a pediatric urologist.  Dr. Edwin Harmon, was the first holder of the Keeton chair, and now the torch has been passed to Dr. Barraza, who incidentally is the brother of Dr. Mary Taylor, professor and chair of pediatrics.

The Keeton chair, established in 2015 through a gift of $1 million by Friends of Children’s Hospital and spearheaded by then board chair Sara Ray, is one of 26 endowed chairs at the Medical Center.  Through additional gifts and market growth, the Keeton chair is currently valued at $1.7 million. 

Endowed chairs are vitally important to universities and academic medical centers like UMMC, so I wanted to share a little bit more about ours with the readers of VC Notes.  In most cases, the earnings on the endowed funds – but not the principal amount – are used as salary support for the holder of the chair.  That frees other funds that can be used to build the department or its programs in any number of ways and "stretch our mission." Endowed chairs and professorships are two of the traditional measures of the wealth, and hence the capabilities, of an institution of higher education. 

Just for the sake of clarity – because it can be confusing – even though they are both referred to as a “chair,” an endowed chair is different and distinct from the administrative role of department chair.  Not all chairs of departments hold endowed chairs, and not all endowed chair holders are also department chairs.  At UMMC, eight holders of endowed chairs are also chairs of their departments.

Interestingly, two other presenters in last night’s program hold endowed chairs.  Dr. Taylor holds the Suzan B. Thames Chair of Pediatrics, named for one of UMMC’s very best friends and supporters.  Suzan is one of the founders of Friends of Children’s Hospital, is one of The MIND Center’s leading supporters and chairs its Advisory Board, and also serves as chair of the University of Mississippi Foundation board.  A volunteer, she’s one of the hardest-working people I know!  She has raised millions for UMMC and Ole Miss philanthropic causes and has done so out of a genuine love for these institutions and the work they do.

The other endowed chair holder presenting last night was Dr. Chris Anderson, professor and chair of the Department of Surgery and the James D. Hardy Chair of Surgery.  The Hardy chair, of course, is named for the founding chair of surgery at UMMC and one of the world’s pioneers of organ transplant surgery.  It’s especially fitting that Dr. Anderson is himself a highly respected transplant surgeon and a leader in the field.  

The holder of the UMMC chair with the largest endowment is a former department chair, Dr. Robert McGuire, professor of orthopaedic surgery.  Dr. McGuire is the current holder of the M. Beckett Howorth, M.D. Chair of Orthopaedics, with a current market value of $4.6 million.

Almost all of our endowed chairs are in the School of Medicine, but we do have one recently established chair shared in the Schools of Nursing and Population Health, the Harriet G. Williamson, R.N., B.S. Chair of Population Health Nursing, valued at more than $2 million.  A number of other chairs are in the developmental stages but have not yet reached the $1 million threshold for official endowed chair status.

Finally, I hope it’s obvious that none of these endowed chairs, which are so crucial to the Medical Center’s development, would exist without the monetary gifts provided by individuals and organizations that are inspired to support our work and contribute to the legacy of those for whom our chairs are named.  Mere words can’t express the depth of my gratitude for their generosity.   

I would love nothing more than to grow the number, value and distribution of endowed chairs throughout all of our schools.  As I mentioned earlier, they are a reflection of excellence, something our faculty and staff put on full display every day, on our path to A Healthier Mississippi.