Griebling honored with John P. Wolf Masonic Professorship in Urology

May 7, 2008

Tomas Griebling, MD, FACS, FGSA, associate professor and vice chair of the department of urology, thanked the Kansas Masonic Foundation for their gift to establish the John P. Wolf Masonic Professorship in Urology.

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.

An investiture ceremony took place on April 14 to honor the endowment and name Tomas Griebling, MD, FACS, FGSA, associate professor and vice chair of the department of urology, to the professorship.

Griebling joined the Medical Center in 1999, and is the only fellowship-trained female and geriatric urology specialist in the Midwest. He also received the William T. Kemper Fellowship Award for Teaching Excellence for the 2002-2003 academic year.

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. Wolf served on the Foundation's board of directors from 1999 until his death in September 2004. Just prior to his death, Wolf's Masonic brothers established this professorship in his name.

“A lot of the time these ideas come after the fact. It was important to us for John to know that we did it because of his undying faith and fight against cancer,” said Mark Nelson, the executive director of the Masonic Foundation. “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 pledged $15 million to the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute, which brought the foundation's total support for cancer research to over $20 million.

“Since 1975 the Masons of Kansas and the Kansas Masonic Foundation have given a grant to KU for its cancer endeavor,” said Jeff Sowder, Kansas Masonic Foundation president. “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 University of Kansas 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,” said J.B.Thrasher, MD, chair of urology. “Interest from the money can be used as salary support, lab support and help to supply a nurse or clinical coordinator.”

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 generousgift to the Partnership for Life campaign,” said Roy Jensen, MD, director of the University of Kansas Cancer Center. “The Kansas Mason's 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."