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$1 million gift to fund cancer professorship

Franklin Gaines, CEO and chairman of the board of directors for the First National Bank in Fredonia, and his wife, Beverly, recently announced a gift of $1 million to support cancer research by funding a professorship at the KU Cancer Center. In 2003, Gaines, a cancer survivor, was appointed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to the Kansas Board of Regents. He is also a former state representative and senator.

"When I received my diagnosis about 13 months ago, I traveled to Mayo Clinic for my care and treatment, but not everyone can afford to do that. I heard Chancellor Hemenway speak to the Board of Regents about how having an NCI-designated cancer center would benefit our entire state. This is an extremely important endeavor that will allow people in Kansas to receive their care without traveling far away and so I am very happy to help get KU closer to their goal," Gaines said.

The gift puts the Kansas Masonic Foundation at more than two-thirds of the way in its goal to reach $15 million in its Partnership for Life fundraising campaign to support the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute, the research arm of the KU Cancer Center. The income earned on endowed funds such as this provide salary support, travel expenses and other costs associated with advancement of a professorship. The gift will be managed by KU Endowment.

The gift will create an endowed professorship for the KU Cancer Center and support the cancer initiatives at the KU School of Medicine-Wichita. The Franklin D. and Beverly J. Gaines Professorship will be used to support the medical director of the KU Cancer Center oncology outpatient unit. The physician will be responsible for developing the research program which will enroll patients in clinical trials in Wichita and will also be an integral member of the KU Cancer Center drug program and the drug discovery and experimental therapeutics program for the Midwest Cancer Alliance.

"This gift is a demonstration of Frank and Beverly Gaines' commitment to helping others across Kansas and the region," said Jeff Sowder, president of the Kansas Masonic Foundation.

"It is because of gifts like this that the Partnership for Life campaign will be successful in its quest to assist KU in its efforts to bring an NCI-designated cancer care center to the Midwest."

TOPONYMS

KU's largest residence hall is named for brothers Elmer V. and Burton McCollum, who grew up in Lawrence and worked their way through school. Elmer received a bachelor's in chemistry in 1903 and a master's in 1904, and later identified vitamins A and D. Burton took a 1904 degree in electrical engineering and was a pioneering researcher in seismography. McCollum Laboratories also is named for him and was funded by income from his estate and more than 30 patents he registered.