Kromer named KOAA Alumnus of the Year
Posted: October 14, 2008KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Oct. 14, 2008 ) – Long before his nomination as the 2008 Kirksville Osteopathic Alumni Association (KOAA) Alumnus of the Year, Robert J. Kromer, D.O., FACOFP, ’52, was just a college student hitching a ride to Sandusky, Ohio, with a stranger. That ride, recalls Dr. Kromer, was a journey that changed the course of his life, because that stranger was a Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM) alumnus who enthusiastically shared the osteopathic profession and principles with the young student.
Inspired by his new friend, the student rededicated himself to his dream of becoming a physician and eventually graduated from KCOM in 1952. After 41 years in general practice, Dr. Kromer is now retired and living in Longboat Key, Fla.
A phenomenal lifetime advocate of KCOM, Dr. Kromer is supportive not only with his financial gifts, but also his time and talents. He served on A.T. Still University’s (ATSU) Board of Trustees and on several occasions assisted in the identification and cultivation of significant donors for the University. In 2005, Dr. Kromer completed a major gift to ATSU’s Connell Information Technologies Center, naming the Connell Center’s Mylander-Kromer Courtyard Garden. Dr. Kromer’s gifts have supported the KOAA Educational Program Fund, Alumnus of the Year, and the Museum Endowment. He has also supported the National Center for Osteopathic Research and the Mylander Student Loan Fund.
Dr. Kromer will be recognized for his record of service to the osteopathic profession and alma mater at KOAA’s annual Luncheon and Assembly Meeting held in conjunction with the American Osteopathic Association Convention in Las Vegas on October 27.