Make a Gift – Donate to CU Gynecologic Oncology

About this fund

The Department of OB-GYN at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has been in existence since 1949 when E. Stewart Taylor became the first full-time chair. Dr. Taylor developed a world-class faculty, and trainees and faculty members became academic leaders around the country. He started the world’s first training program in perinatal medicine. Dr. Taylor stepped down as chair in the 1980s, and was succeeded by Dr. Edgar Makowski. Dr. Makowski was responsible for founding University Physicians, Inc., the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s faculty practice plan, and was known for his strong commitment to perinatal research.

Dr. Makowski was succeeded by Dr. Ronald Gibbs, who brought a strong sense of purpose to the department in its mission to detect and treat infectious diseases in pregnancy and to bring family planning services to the women of Colorado. Under the leadership of Dr. Nanette Santoro, the department’s mission is to promote and advance the health of women through innovative discovery in research, education, patient care and national leadership and its vision is to optimize the health and well-being of women across their lifespan by utilizing our unique strengths.

Donations to the Department of OB-GYN’s general Gift Fund will be used to further our missions of excellence in clinical care, teaching, and research, whereas donations to the Research Fund will only be used to support departmental research.

About this fund

In honor of the multifaceted contributions of Dr. Ronald Gibbs and Jane H. Gibbs to the University of Colorado School of Medicine and to the community for over 25 years, an endowed fund was established to support three key areas in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology: education of residents and fellows, research in infectious diseases, and family planning.

Dr. Gibbs served as chair of the department from 1989 through 2009, during which time the faculty expanded, new fellowship programs were established, over 180 residents were trained, and key new programs were developed. Selected as best teacher in the department in 1992, 1996 and 2001, Dr. Gibbs also received a special award for excellence in resident teaching in 2004. In addition to supervising 44 Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellows throughout his career, Dr. Gibbs sponsored five international fellows to study at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

His leadership ushered in the Basic Reproductive Science division to further the mission of research excellence, and new programs such as Family Planning.

Jane Gibbs served as Administrator for the Colorado Section of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for over 17 years. She was actively involved in many CU department projects and official functions. She has also been a forthright advocate for the care of women and infants by serving in leadership positions in the March of Dimes and other organizations championing women’s health.

Donations to the Gibbs Endowment will be used to support education, research in infectious diseases, and family planning.

An interview with the Gibbses

About this fund

Born in Oklahoma City and raised in Kentucky, Dr. Goddard migrated through New Jersey (chemistry major at Princeton), Pennsylvania (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine), and Iowa (State University of Iowa), where he joined the faculty after completing his military service.

While at the State University of Iowa, Dr. Goddard began his tradition of excellence in teaching and outstanding leadership. He was awarded three teaching awards in two years (1957,1958), was elected Secretary of the Iowa OB-GYN Society, and was a member of the program Committee and the Scientific Exhibits Committee for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Goddard was recruited to Denver in 1961 to become Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Denver General Hospital – now known as Denver Health – and joined the clinical faculty at the University of Colorado in 1963. He was instrumental in promoting the adoption of laparoscopy, ultrasound, and advanced fetal monitoring techniques. Dr. Goddard trained over 400 residents and innumerable medical students over the course of his distinguished career.

Whether looming over an OR table or philosophizing over a pint of beer, Dr. Goddard’s greatest specialty was teaching others to become outstanding physicians. Dr. Goddard served on numerous committees of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and is past President of the Central Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He was a member of the Central Travel Club of Obstetrics Gynecology, and a founding member and past president of the society now known as The Society for Humanism in Medicine. He served for many years as an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and was a past president of the Continental Gynecologic Society and the Colorado Gynecologic and Obstetric Society. He founded the informal Metabolic Bone Disease Society of Colorado, and with Harvey Cohen M.D., he founded the Vail Obstetrics and Gynecology Conference originally supported by Beth Israel Hospital. More than three decades later, this highly successful conference continues to be offered through the University of Colorado’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Goddard was married to Yvonne (Frankie) Goddard, and together they had four children: Twin daughters Susan and Jo Anna, attorneys practicing estate and trust law (Goddard and Goddard in Denver, CO); Margaret Rose (Peggy), a teacher in a Montessori school founded by her and her husband in Versailles, KY; and Norman, who is a blending engineer with Marathon Oil in St. Paul, MN. They have eight grandchildren.

Donations to the Goddard Fund will be used to further the education, research and clinical care in general Gynecology and Urogynecology.

About this fund

Edgar Makowski was the second chair of the University of Colorado’s Department of OB-GYN and served from 1976-1988. He dedicated his professional life to improving women’s health and the care of newborns. He served the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the greater Denver community, and the nation for many years as an educator, clinician and researcher. Among the many roles he embraced were President of AGOS (American Gynecologic and Obstetric Society), the most senior academic society of the specialty; President of the Perinatal Research Society; and Chairman of the Human Embryology and Development NIH (National Institutes of Health) study section.

Dr. Makowski joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1966. As the second chair of the department, Dr. Makowski personally advanced the cause for excellence in patient care. One of his first initiatives was to obtain better fetal monitoring equipment and ultrasound equipment for the department. Under his leadership, the residency program nearly doubled in size to its current nine per class for a total of 36 residents in a four-year program. Dr. Makowski was a dedicated teacher with broadly ranging interests who encouraged his residents and fellows to become experts in fetal monitoring, genetics and pathology.

Widely recognized as a superb clinical researcher, Dr. Makowski oversaw great growth of the research enterprise in the Department, while maintaining his personal research interest in fetal physiology. Dr. Makowski brought his vision and leadership skills to the broader CU community as well. He was instrumental in changing the name of the hospital from Colorado General to University of Colorado Hospital, believing that the general public should easily recognize the hospital’s connection to the university.

Donations to the Makowski Endowment will be used to further the research mission of the Department of OB-GYN. We are indebted to the vision of those like Dr. Makowski who have brought us this far. Your generous contribution will allow us to continue and enhance this heritage of excellence in health care for women and infants.

About this fund

Dr. McGregor is an internationally known Obstetrician Gynecologist who is a graduate of Dartmouth College. He has been a faculty member at McGill University, as well as a retired Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. He also tenured as Professor of OB-GYN at the University of Colorado. Dr. McGregor is author of over one hundred published papers, chapters, textbooks, and videos.

He has long been a champion of education of residents and junior faculty. Donations to the McGregor Fund will be used to support resident and junior faculty education and research.

About this fund

Dr. E Stewart Taylor was the inaugural chair of the department and a true renaissance man. He died on February 5, 2014 at the age of 102 years in Denver, CO after a long, rewarding, and extremely productive life. He was a gentle and soft-spoken individual, yet strangers quickly realized that he had a keen intellect and was a true scholar. His peers and students revered him as a brilliant clinician, highly skilled surgeon and a superb diagnostician.

Dr. Taylor was raised in the small town of Highmore, SD and attended the University of Iowa for college and medical school. While a pre-med student at Iowa, he met Ruth Fatherson. They were happily married for 65 years until her death in 2005. His wife skillfully copyedited each and every scholarly paper and book produced during Dr. Taylor’s career. Dr. Taylor completed a rotating internship at the Hurley Hospital in Flint, Michigan, followed by a residency at the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, NY.

After finishing his residency, Dr. Taylor worked in a small clinic in Worthington, MN, while awaiting his army orders, which arrived in the summer of 1942. He became Assistant Chief of Surgery of the 400 bed, 107th Evacuation Hospital. His unit landed at Omaha Beach in July of 1944, five weeks after D-Day. When disembarking from the landing craft the other officers carried their gear in duffle bags. Dr. Taylor, always the gentleman, carried a suitcase so that he would have a pressed pair of pants for any important occasion. The members of the 107th Evacuation Hospital were awarded five battle stars: Normandy, France, Ardennes, Rhine and Germany.

Several years after the war, Dr. Taylor wrote the following: “My war experiences made me see life differently. I believe deeply and still do, that the risk and mortalities of war are unequal and the poor carry the biggest part of the risk. I felt guilty then and I still do. It has made me much more sympathetic to those less fortunate.” After World War II, Dr. and Mrs. Taylor moved to Denver, where he joined the private practice of Dr. Clarence Ingraham who was the part-time, volunteer chair of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Taylor was only 38 years old at the time he was offered the Chairmanship of the Department of OB-GYN. His tenure as chair was from 1947 to 1976. By the mid 1960s the residency program had trained approximately one third of the obstetricians and gynecologists in Denver and its suburbs. At the same time the department had become recognized as one of the best in the country.

Dr. Taylor was a prolific author and editor. He was a member and director of the leading organizations of the OB-GYN specialty. His most rewarding and enjoyable venture was being one of the co-editors for the Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey, for which he wrote over 3,000 editorial comments for the abstracted articles in the journal. Dr. Taylor alone was the single author for two popular textbooks, Essentials of Gynecology and the revised and updated book Obstetrical Practice.

Dr. Taylor was a founding member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In 1986 he received their distinguished service award. He was President from 1974 to 1975 of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics. He was a member of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology for eight years and an examiner for more than 15 years.

Dr. Taylor’s initial research interests were premature birth and low birth weight infants and their relationship to complications of pregnancy and poor socio-economic factors. Dr. Harry Gordon, the Chairman of Pediatrics, shared Dr. Taylor’s interests and together they developed one of the first divisions of Perinatal Medicine in the country. Subsequently, Dr. Taylor and Dr. Paul Bruns recruited a team of senior investigators to Denver to study fetal physiology and fetal growth using sheep as their experimental model. The department quickly became a center for research in prematurity and fetal physiology. Dr. Joseph Holmes of the Department of Medicine collaborated with Dr. Taylor in the initial development of obstetrical ultrasound.

Dr. Taylor cared deeply about all who worked with him and took a personal interest in each of them. At his 100th birthday celebration he welcomed individual residents who he had trained decades before by name and even remembered their spouses’ names. Dr. Taylor was an active mentor for many of his trainees throughout their careers. Dr. Taylor left a brilliant and lasting legacy of excellence in care, teaching, research and professionalism. He was a man of humility, integrity, dignity, grace and courage. He was revered and respected by his friends, patients, colleagues, faculty, students, residents and fellows.

Donations to the Taylor Endowment will be used for salary support for the current department chair.

About this fund

The Perinatal Research Center Fund is dedicated to supporting costs of research in maternal-fetal medicine that are typically not covered by traditional research grants. The Department of OB-GYN has an active research program in Intrauterine Growth Restriction, Preterm Birth, Pre-Eclampsia and Intrauterine Surgery (through the Colorado Institute for Maternal and Fetal Health).

The Perinatal Research Center Fund is used for research costs, including travel, equipment, training and maintenance of existing resources not otherwise accounted for by existing funding streams.

About this fund

During his career, which has extended over 40 years, Dr. Hobbins looked for contributions to the field of maternal-fetal medicine that would have immediate effect or act as a catalyst for further investigation. During his 21-year tenure at Yale, the last 15 years of which were as the Director of Obstetrics, he led a prolific team that was responsible for many major breakthroughs in prenatal diagnosis and therapy. Most members of his team moved on to other areas of the country to become major leaders in the field.

After moving to Denver in 1991, Dr. Hobbins assumed the job as Chief of Obstetrics and built a program that nurtured young investigators and produced some important contributions in prenatal diagnosis, including successfully securing a place in the FASTER trial that lead to the publication of relevant data on first and second trimester biochemistry and its relation to perinatal outcome, and for University of Colorado to act as a clearing house for another eight-center study on the efficacy of the genetic sonogram.

In 2003 he stepped down as Director of Obstetrics to focus on creating a freestanding University of Colorado referral center (the Platte River Perinatal Center) for prenatal diagnosis and a program that has attracted patient referrals from inside and outside the U.S.

During this long career Dr. Hobbins authored, or co-authored, more than 400 peer-reviewed papers, wrote 21 books devoted to ultrasound and high risk pregnancy and contributed 49 chapters in texts. His honors include the first American to get the Gold Medal Award in Japan from ISUOG for contributions to medicine through ultrasound, the DeLee Humanitarian Award from the University of Chicago, and the new Distinguished Professor Award. He was also the past president of the AIUM.

Currently, Dr. Hobbins is leading an ongoing study aimed at understanding the pathogenesis of “intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and the impact IUGR has on child development.” He is also involved in aiding South American and Caribbean countries in diagnosing Zika related CNS abnormalities with 3D ultrasound.

About this fund

T. Rajendra Kumar, Ph.D. is an Edward L. & Patricia M. Makowski Professor for the University of Colorado Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology in the Division of Basic Reproductive Sciences and Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility. Dr. Kumar is a luminary in the field of reproductive endocrinology and has made unprecedented discoveries on pituitary gonadotropins using sophisticated mouse genetic models. His high-impact research is paving the way for new understanding of human fertility and clinical treatments for infertility.

Dr. Kumar's research investigates all aspects of gonadotropin biology to gain a better understanding of the physiology and pathology of the reproductive axis, including abnormal reproductive tract development, infertility, ovarian aging, bone loss and cancer of the pituitary and gonads.

Specific research includes:

• gonadotrope development and tumorigenesis
• mechanisms of pituitary gonadotropin subunit gene expression and post-transcriptional regulation
• gonadotropin biosynthesis with a focus on age-dependent glycosylation
• gonadotropin secretion and action with one focus on somatic cell development and regulation in the gonads and the other on osteoclasts in the bone.

Dr. Kumar is also passionate about training the next generation of reproductive scientists.