Bill and Judy Docking have endowed a fund to support development opportunities for new and young faculty in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at KU School of Medicine-Wichita.

The Dockings created the Bill and Judy Docking Faculty Development Fund during the “One Day. One KU.” day of giving organized by KU Endowment on Feb. 17.

“An excellent faculty is essential to providing the highest quality educational experience,” Bill Docking said. “The fund’s purpose is to open up opportunities to faculty members that might otherwise not be available.”

Bill Docking completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Kansas in political science in 1972 and his Master of Business Administration and law degrees, both at KU, in 1977. He is chair of Union State Bank in Arkansas City, Kansas, and is chair, president and CEO of Docking Bancshares. He is the son of the late Kansas Gov. Robert B. Docking and grandson of former Kansas Gov. George Docking. Bill Docking was on the Kansas Board of Regents from 1975-2005 and served on the KU Endowment board of trustees from 1985-2019. Judy Docking is a retired nurse who previously worked in Arkansas City and Ponca City, Oklahoma.

The Dockings have been supporters of family medicine education for many years.

“Bill and Judy Docking are friends of family medicine,” said Rick Kellerman, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Family & Community Medicine at KU School of Medicine-Wichita. “They recognize the importance of family physicians who care for patients in both rural and urban Kansas communities. Their financial commitment and philosophic support should encourage all of us to do the best we can do to educate the next generation of family physicians for Kansas.”