11/07/07

Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute receives $300,000 for endowed professorship

LAWRENCE — Kansas Masonic Foundation members had no problem finding a way to honor their late board member John Wolf — they gave $300,000 to establish and fully endow the John P. Wolf Masonic Professorship in Urology.

The money will be used to perform outcomes research on prostate cancer, the disease that claimed Wolf, said J. Brantley Thrasher, professor and William Valk Chair of Urology.

“Outcomes research is an important area because it addresses the quality of life issues that go along with cancer,” Thrasher said. “If you ask a patient, sometimes outcomes are more important than getting all the cancer. If you know of other treatments available, there’s hope. But addressing other quality of life issues is just as important.”

The money for the Wolf professorship was part of a $1 million gift announced on Masons Day at the University of Kansas Medical Center in September. Kansas Masonic Foundation President Jeff Sowder and Executive Director Mark Nelson presented the gift to Thrasher and Roy Jensen, director of the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute. Wolf served on the foundation’s board of directors from 1999 until his death in September 2004. Just before his death, Wolf’s Masonic brothers established this professorship in his name.

“A lot of time these ideas come after the fact. It was important to us for John to know what we did because of his undying faith and fight against cancer,” Nelson said. “Once the decision was made, Jeff and I went to John’s hospital room at KU to tell him what we’d done. It really touched him. He’d be very proud today.”

The Kansas Masonic Foundation has pledged $15 million to the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute and has given more than $5 million in additional funds over the past 30 years.

“Since 1975, the Masons of Kansas and the Kansas Masonic Foundation have given a grant to KU for its cancer endeavor,” Sowder said. “Our current campaign is called the Partnership for Life campaign and that's just what it is — a lifetime partnership between the Foundation and KU to find a cure for cancer.”

The Wolf Professorship in Urology will help the KU Cancer Center stay in line with the goal of becoming an NCI-designated cancer center and help fulfill the overall 10-year life sciences vision for the KU Medical Center.

“Gifts like this one allow us to recruit and retain nationally and internationally known faculty,” Thrasher said. “Interest from the money can be used as salary support, lab support and help to supply a nurse or clinical coordinator.”

The gift will be managed by KU Endowment, KU’s official fundraising organization. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

The Kansas Masonic Foundation was established in 1966 for the purpose of expanding Masonic philanthropy in the fields of charitable, educational and scientific programs. They chose the fight against cancer as their top priority because of the destructive toll that it takes on individuals, families and society as a whole.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Kansas Masonic Foundation and John Wolf’s wife, Phyllis, for this very generous gift to the Partnership for Life campaign,” Jensen said. “The Kansas Masons are the foundation for our quest in obtaining the National Cancer Institute’s designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, and we would not be where we are today without their support and commitment in the fight against cancer.”

Return to News Releases