The University of New Mexico
 

A Publication of
the University
of New Mexico
Foundation, Inc.
 
unm
unm
          


Celebrating Four Decades
Medicine Names Endowed Chair for Chavez

Dr. Paul Roth and Fabian Chavez
Dr. Paul Roth, dean of the School of Medicine, awards the former senator a plaque as he announces the creation of the Senator Fabian Chavez Endowed Chair for Population Health Research.

Alumni and friends of the UNM School of Medicine (SOM) gathered on Feb. 23, 2001, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the school's founding. The Honorable U.S. Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, along with UNM Hospital Board President Maralyn Budke, co-hosted the dinner at El Dorado Hotel in Santa Fe. At the event, the School announced the creation of the Senator Fabian Chavez Endowed Chair for Population Health Research. The Endowed Chair honors the former senator's role in the School's formation.

In 1960, UNM President Tom Popejoy began a campaign to provide New Mexicans with improved healthcare and opportunities to study medical science in their home state. Previously, New Mexico ranked 49 out of 50 states in medical education offerings, and only one New Mexican had gained admission to a publicly supported medical school outside of the West. President Popejoy enlisted the aid of then State Senator Fabian Chavez, a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives 1951-1952, the State Senate 1955-1964 and Senate Majority Leader 1961-1964. Together, they persuaded Chavez's legislative colleagues and the governor to support their cause.

In 1961, the State appropriated $25,000 to create a two-year basic science school, which held its first classes in 1964 in a former mortuary and a converted 7-Up bottling plant. By 1966, the State approved the school's expansion into a four-year medical school, due to seed monies provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Today, the UNM School of Medicine is ranked among the nation's best medical schools, recognized for its progressive, high-quality education, clinical care, biomedical research programs and community outreach.

Fabian Chavez, Bruce King, Paul Roth, Pete Domenici
Former Senator Fabian Chavez, former Governor Bruce King, Dr. Paul Roth, dean of the School of Medicine, and Senator Pete Domenici.

Income generated from the Chavez Endowment will allow the School of Medicine to recruit and retain chairpersons to study the effects of certain diseases that are particularly injurious or unique to New Mexico's population groups, seeking to to explore such phenomena as:

  • Why New Mexicans are disproportionately affected by asthma.
  • Why members of certain American Indian tribes are affected by kidney disease at a rate 10 times the rate for U.S. non-Native Americans.
  • Why diabetes is twice as prevalent in Hispanics and nearly five times more prevalent in Native Americans than in other population groups.
  • Why cervical cancer is so prevalent in Native American and Hispanic populations

The SOM has received a lead gift of $50,000 toward the $2.5 million needed to formally establish this endowment. For more information regarding the Chavez Endowment, please contact Marnie Kern, constituent development officer at the UNM School of Medicine, at (505) 272-4129 or mkern@salud.unm.edu.

UNM Foundation Inc.
Two Woodward Center
700 Lomas Boulevard NE
Albuquerque, NM 87131

505-277-4503
1-800-UNM-FUND
Fax: 505-277-4435

Copyright © 2006 The University of New Mexico.
See our Standard Disclaimer and Copyright Information Page.
The University of New Mexico is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution. In accordance with the American with Disabilities Act, the information in this site is available in alternate formats upon request.

 

Inside this edition

Spring 2001