Second Opinion

When I joined my colleagues in the Kentucky General Assembly to convene the 1997 Special Session on Higher Education, we knew we were going to have to move beyond the status quo in favor of a more revolutionary way to financially support our state's institutions of higher education.

One of the results of that special session -- the "Bucks for Brains" program -- has evolved into what may very well be the most innovative way to catalyze our two research universities.

The overall effort included an allocation of $33.3 million to the University of Louisville for use during fiscal years 1998-1999.

That particular allocation has funded the state portion of an endowment that combines state contributions dollar-for-dollar with private donations from corporations and individuals with a vested interest in Kentucky's future. We reallocated the funding during the 2000 session of the General Assembly.

The University of Louisville can use the endowments to fund new faculty positions, give salary supplements to current faculty members, award fellowship stipends or scholarships, or provide assistance to priority programs that have received national distinction.

Each of these tools can be used to attract talented educators to the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky. And they have been used to achieve just that -- tripling the number of both endowed chairs and endowed professorships.

The educators attracted by the program are top-notch, including research scholars like Suzanne Ildstad, M.D. She has brought to the University of Louisville an invaluable amount of expertise in her position as Director of the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics, where she leads research on diseases such as sickle cell anemia and autoimmune disorders. The results of Ildstad's studies have been applied in FDA-approved trials.

Ildstad, Donald Miller, M.D., Ph.D., and Craig McClain, M.D., are only three of the internationally known researchers who have brought their life's research to the University of Louisville because of Bucks for Brains and the new research park.

With these scientists come highly trained staffs and millions of research dollars. As the research results in new treatments and techniques, spinoff companies will convert research data into clinical use. Already, more than 20 such companies are developing at the UofL biopark or are interested in coming to Louisville.

The University of Louisville also has done a tremendous job at finding the matching dollars needed to maintain state funding; as a result, UofL will receive another $33.3 million during the 2001-2002 biennium.

Between 1998 and 2000, UofL matched 100 percent of its two-year allocation and endowed 20 chairs and four professorships. Those additional positions nearly doubled the number of endowed chairs, bringing it to a total of 46, and increased the number of endowed professorships from 10 to 14.

Since the Bucks for Brains program was created, 76 percent of the endowed funds have benefited research in health-related fields.

With the development of new technology, our world is evolving constantly and new schools of thought are daily changing our expectations of education. Sadly enough, the terrorist events of Sept. 11 and the evolution of biological warfare into a very palpable threat have made a focus on these areas all too important.

That means the University of Louisville's research must eclipse the cutting edge, and it must continue to receive the state support necessary to do so.

In his oration on the death of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare wrote, "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones."

I believe the Bucks for Brains program will prove this statement wrong. With these endowments we are sowing seeds that will reap extraordinary contributions, not only to our state and its welfare and economy, but most importantly to the benefit of all mankind.

After all, what better legacy can we leave than the preservation of life and enhancing the quality of that life?

State Rep. Bob M. DeWeese is a graduate of the UofL School of Medicine and former president of the Kentucky Medical Association. He is a retired surgeon who has served in the Kentucky State House of Representatives since 1992 and now is Republican Caucus Chairman. DeWeese can be reached at 1 (800) 372-7181.