Posted on October 20, 2012

University of Missouri School of Medicine Announces Bequests for Medical Research Professorships

The University of Missouri School of Medicine has announced that it has received bequests totaling $1.3 million from lifelong Warren County residents George and Melna Bolm to fund cardiovascular health and ophthalmology professorships at the university.

The Bolms both lived with multiple medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease and macular degeneration. With an initial bequest of $550,000 in 2002, following her husband's death in 2000, Melna Bolm established the George L. and Melna A. Bolm Distinguished Professor in Cardiovascular Health. Then, following Mrs. Bolm's death in 2011, the university received an additional $550,000 from the Bolm estate to elevate the professorship to the George L. and Melna A. Bolm Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Health, as well as an additional $250,000 to establish the George L. and Melna A. Bolm Distinguished Faculty Scholar in Ophthalmology.

"These generous gifts will allow our cardiovascular researchers to advance their studies of the nation's deadliest disease," said Ronald Korthuis, who holds the chair in cardiovascular health. "The university already is internationally admired for its cardiovascular disease research, and this support will allow us to take our investigations into novel areas with lifesaving potential. We've also leveraged the Bolms' gifts to produce more publications, receive more grant funding, and support research education for students."