Kirksville residents approved for ATSU Board of Trustees

Members include former TSU President Jack Magruder, Alliant Bank President Pete Detweiler

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 6, 2006) – The ATSU Board of Trustees met in Kirksville in October and elected two Kirksville residents to committee chairmanships. Jack Magruder, Ed.D., former president of Truman State University, serves as Chairman of the Education/Research Committee. In addition, Peter Detweiler, the president of Alliant Bank in Kirksville, serves as Chairman of the Finance Committee.

The link between Kirksville and ATSU dates back to the founding of the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1892. The spirit of that 114-year-old agreement remains, with ATSU completing the $11 million Connell Information Technologies Center and launching a new Kirksville-based Ph.D. program in osteopathic clinical research.

“We believe it is very important to have a strong community presence on our Board,” said ATSU President James McGovern. “Jack and Pete have given years of service to Kirksville, and we want to bring that experience to the table to help us make decisions that benefit the University and the City of Kirksville.”

Detweiler and Magruder agree the deeply rooted relationship between ATSU and Kirksville should be continually nurtured and supported.

“The relationship between ATSU and Kirksville goes back more than 100 years, and ATSU is one of the bedrock components of the Kirksville economy,” Detweiler said. “Being involved with ATSU allows me to contribute to the well-being of the community. We hope to continue a long, healthy relationship between Kirksville and ATSU that includes positive economic impact and producing new family-practice oriented, rural physicians dedicated to the osteopathic tradition.”

“ATSU, and KCOM especially, has a tremendous impact on Kirksville, including quality of life, the services that they provide, and the sensitive, compassionate physicians that they produce,” Magruder said. “They also have an enormous economic impact, and it is absolutely necessary to maintain the relationship between ATSU and Kirksville.”

Detweiler is also the treasurer of the Kirksville Regional Economic Development Inc., and Magruder was recently notified he has been awarded honorary membership in the Kirksville Osteopathic Alumni Association.

Steve Kardos, D.O., the CEO and President of Triveris/Health Network America, in New Jersey was chosen as Chairman of the Board. He is a former vice president of Blue Cross-Blue Shield of New Jersey and a 1968 graduate of the ATSU’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Gerald Perkins, D.O., FOCOO, an ophthalmologist in Carefree, Arizona, was re-elected as Vice Chairman of the Board. He is the author of the book Life is a Dance and a 1967 graduate of ATSU-KCOM.

Linda Niessen, DMD, MPH, vice president of DENTSPLY International was elected Secretary of the Board. She lives in Dallas, Texas, and is a graduate of Harvard University’s Dental School and School of Public Health.

Clyde H. Evans, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Institute for Health Protection and President of CE Consulting in Massachusetts was elected to the Board as a new member. Dr. Evans formerly served as a vice president for the Association of Academic Health Centers.

Also elected to the Board, Capri S. Cafaro has significant aging and health care experience and works as a Special Projects Coordinator in the Lorain County Office on Aging in Ohio.