Father’s Day Council Tucson celebrated six outstanding Tucson fathers at its 23rd annual “Father of the Year Awards Dinner and Gala” on May 20 at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.
The event donated about $136,000 for type 1 diabetes research, faculty recruitment and the “Father’s Day Council Tucson Endowed Chair for Type 1 Diabetes” at the University of Arizona Steele Children’s Research Center.
This annual event honors men who have demonstrated they are dedicated fathers, outstanding community role models and successful in their chosen field. This year’s honorees were:
- Alan Levin, owner; Port of Tucson
- Maj. Gen. Edward P. Maxwell, president; Southern Arizona Leadership Council
- Luis Felipe Seldner, CEO and co-founder; The Offshore Group
- Robert Smith, VP, planning design and operations; the University of Arizona
- Michael V. Varney, president and CEO; Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce
- Gregory “Greg” J. White, CFO, vice-president; Raytheon Missile Systems
“We are so grateful for Father’s Day Council Tucson,” said Fayez K. Ghishan, MD, professor and head, UA Department of Pediatrics and director of the UA Steele Center. “Their support enables us to advance critically important research. With this year’s contribution, the ‘Father’s Day Council Tucson Endowed Chair for Type 1 Diabetes’ is almost completed, which will enable us to recruit a world-class physician-scientist in pediatric endocrinology.”
Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong, incurable autoimmune disease that occurs when the body fights itself and kills the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. In the United States, type 1 diabetes is increasing by 3 percent every year. Currently, more than 800 Tucson-area children are fighting type 1 diabetes, and will benefit from the impact made by Father’s Day Council Tucson.
About the UA Steele Children’s Research Center
The UA Steele Children’s Research Center is one of the prestigious Centers of Excellence at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson at the University of Arizona Health Sciences. It is the state’s only academic pediatric research center designated by the Arizona Board of Regents, and the only facility in Southern Arizona where researchers and physician-scientists are dedicated to advancing medical knowledge through basic and translational research to improve children’s health. As researchers, they seek to discover answers to children’s medical mysteries. As physician-scientists, they provide compassionate care to hospitalized patients at Banner Children’s at Diamond Children’s Medical Center and pediatric outpatient clinics throughout Tucson and the state. And, as faculty members with the UA Department of Pediatrics, they teach and train the next generation of pediatricians and researchers.
About the University of Arizona Health Sciences
The University of Arizona Health Sciences is the statewide leader in biomedical research and health professions training. The UA Health Sciences includes the UA Colleges of Medicine (Phoenix and Tucson), Nursing, Pharmacy and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research, patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA Health Sciences employs almost 5,000 people, has nearly 1,000 faculty members and garners more than $126 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: http://uahs.arizona.edu.