Professorship for women established

To encourage and recognize the achievements of women in medicine and science at KU, a Florida philanthropist and her husband, a medical school dean, have given $500,000 for a professorship for women faculty members at the KU School of Medicine.

The gift to the KU Endowment Association is from Joy McCann Daugherty and Robert “Bob” Daugherty Jr., M.D., of Tampa, Fla.

The gift, which was made through the Joy McCann Foundation, will endow the Joy and Bob Daugherty Professorship for Women in Medicine and Science Fund.

The professorship will be awarded to a current or new faculty member of the school who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and mentoring of students, residents and other faculty members.

The fund will be eligible for additional support through the Kansas Partnership for Faculty of Distinction.

Barbara F. Atkinson, executive dean of the medical school, said the professorship would recognize women who act as role models for those with professional aspirations in medicine.

“It is extremely important to recognize women who provide mentoring and leadership to others,” Atkinson said. “As positive role models, women who achieve high positions in medicine inspire women at any level in the school — students, residents, faculty members — to become leaders in their fields.”

The Daugherty professorship shares a name with a professional organization formed in 1999 and is geared toward a similar purpose, Atkinson said.

The KU Women in Medicine and Science program provides mentoring, leadership skills development, advice for career advancement and networking, and guidance in medical and scientific achievement for women in the School of Medicine.