13357_MBP_PP_Vol4
9/25/06
12:59 PM
Page 1
PERKINS
PERSPECTIVE News for Friends of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Available Online at www.marybird.org
Volume 4
Capital Campaign Catalyst for LSU Endowed Chair
2006
35 Yea r s
Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics Established
of Cancer Care
Further adding to the efforts at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center to grow its radiation therapy research initiatives created by the successful 2004 “Whatever it Takes” Capital Campaign, an endowed chair at LSU, the Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics, has been established. “This was the last piece of the Capital Campaign that needed to come to fruition and we are delighted it has,” said Capital Campaign Co-Chair Louis Curet. “The establishment of this chair continues to illustrate the community’s and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center’s commitment to research and academic excellence in cancer care.” This is the first endowed chair in medical physics at Louisiana State University (LSU) and one of just a few in the nation. Dr. Charles M. Smith and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (through the recent capital campaign) each made donations in the amount of $300,000 to the LSU Foundation to endow a chair. Together, these donations qualify for $400,000 in state matching funds to ultimately result in a $1 million endowment. Dr. Charles M. Smith of Lake Charles, Louisiana, said he was motivated to make this gift to LSU by his passion for patient care and his desire to make an impact on cancer care in Louisiana and beyond. “Making this gift is important to me both as a physician and graduate of LSU,” said Charles Smith, MD. “I know what a difference this will make. This endowed chair will be the anchor in ensuring the long-term success of the Center’s partnership with LSU which will drive significant cancer research, as well as train clinical medical physicists, both leading to improved care for cancer patients.” Endowed chairs in academic settings provide support that is largely used for targeted areas of research and academic study. The Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics at LSU will provide support for research initiatives within the medical physics program. Endowed chairs are especially important because they provide ongoing funding for research and academic study, rather than a one-time gift.
The agreement for the chair was signed in August. As the next step, the university will review credentials from toplevel medical physics researchers and appoint someone to the post, a process to be completed in the near future. “The community really stepped up to support this chair, a critical building block for the services, technology and research Mary Bird Perkins provides to patients and their families,” said Todd Stevens, president and CEO of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “Donors to the Capital Campaign made it possible not only to bring the most advanced cancer-fighting technology in the world to Baton Rouge, but also to provide initial funding for this chair at LSU.” Establishing the endowed chair meets the final goal of the Capital Campaign. Community volunteer leaders raised over $2 million making possible the purchase of the TomoTherapy Hi-Art System and the creation of a joint research and academic partnership with LSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy within its Medical Physics and Health Physics Program -- on tap to becoming one of only ten accredited medical physics graduate education programs in the country. The joint venture bolsters the Center’s standing as a Center of Excellence and fits within LSU’s flagship agenda. The partnership and program is led by Kenneth Hogstrom, PhD, one of the world’s foremost scholars in the area of medical physics and former director Continued on Page 11...
Annual Giving Campaign…2
Trigeminal Neuralgia…4
MaryBirdAuction.com…10