|
Christian Messa UTMB faculty members establish endowment to
support professional development of colleagues from underrepresented groups
GALVESTON, Texas — The drive to increase diversity among medical researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston received a major boost recently with the planned establishment of an endowment that will support such efforts. UTMB faculty members Daniel H. Freeman Jr., Ph.D., and his wife, Jean L. Freeman, Ph.D., have pledged to create the Freeman Endowment Fund for the Development of Minority Faculty, which will finance programs and projects that encourage the professional growth of medical researchers from underrepresented groups through mentoring and guidance on such issues as academic promotion, successful grant application and other scholarly pursuits. The fund, which will be partly established by a charitable bequest, was created in memory of Daniel Freeman’s parents, Daniel H. Freeman Sr. and Virginia F. Freeman. A committee appointed by Dr. Valerie M. Parisi, dean of the UTMB School of Medicine, will use the Freeman Endowment Fund to distribute annual monetary awards to the school’s faculty members who have proposed activities and programs that will encourage racial diversity. These awards will be given to any medical school faculty, regardless of ethnicity or race, and any project or program benefiting from the funding will be open to the school’s entire faculty. Daniel Freeman said he hopes the fund will help increase the diversity of UTMB’s work force. “Jean and I feel strongly that UTMB, as a state health institution, should mirror Texas’ ethnic makeup,” he said. “We want to show the state’s population that, irrespective of your race, you can thrive professionally here.” Of the 1,168 faculty members working in the School of Medicine last fall, 176 were classified as Asian/Pacific Islander (15.1 percent), 71 were Hispanic (6.1 percent), 42 were black (3.6 percent) and three were of American Indian/Alaskan native ethnicity (0.3 percent). There were 737 faculty members who were white (63.1 percent). The figures reveal that some racial groups are underrepresented on the faculty in comparison to their representation in the state’s population. For example, Texas State Data Center statistics for 2004 estimate that Hispanics account for 34.8 percent of the population, with blacks making up 11.4 percent. Because Anglos represent 49.8 percent of its citizenry, Texas became the fourth state in which minorities make up more than half the population. Parisi thanked the Freemans for contributing to the UTMB administration’s efforts to increase work force diversity at the university. “Jean and Dan Freeman should be applauded for their decision to establish this fund for the advancement of the School of Medicine’s minority faculty,” said Parisi, who also serves as UTMB chief academic officer and vice president for academic program administration and services. “Their endowment will inspire us to ensure that our working environment will attract and retain top-notch faculty of all ethnicities.” Daniel Freeman, director of the UTMB Office of Biostatistics, and Jean Freeman, a professor in the university’s schools of Allied Health Sciences and Medicine, are making their contribution as part of the university’s Family Matters campaign. The five-year, $25 million initiative enables university employees and retirees to financially contribute to an area that may hold personal significance within the academic health center’s educational, clinical or research programs. Daniel and Jean Freeman are the inaugural holders of the Edgar Gnitzinger Distinguished Professorship in Aging and the Grace Bucksch Gnitzinger Distinguished Professorship in Aging, respectively. The Freemans have been staunch supporters of UTMB, giving to such programs and initiatives as the Agnes MacDonald Edwards Nursing Scholarship and the Children’s Hospital Fund. They are also members of the President’s Cabinet, a volunteer organization that provides financial resources to help advance the mission of UTMB. UTMB |
|
Make A Gift |
Giving Opportunities |
Gift Planning |
Gifts and Givers |
Invest Home UTMB Office of
Development |