Department of Surgery alumni and lifelong friend of the Department of Surgery Dr. Wally Montgomery and his wife Gerry have pledged a $1 million planned gift to create the Montgomery Professorship in Surgery.

Dr. Montgomery, who is from Paducah, KY, completed his general surgery residency at UofL in 1967.

This University and the surgery program provided me the tools to prepare for a successful life in medicine, said Dr. Montgomery.

After residency, Dr. Montgomery practiced for more than three decades in Paducah. Retired for the past 10 years, Dr. Montgomery has not slowed down. He continues to serve on several boards including the Kentucky Institute of Medicine, chair of the budget committee of KMA, Paducah Rotary, and the Paducah bank board. He still finds time to attend his roses and travel with Gerry, his wife of 50 years.

The general surgery residency at UofL was and still is a trusted, thorough, and great program, he said. I am very proud of the program.

In fact, his son, daughter and son-in-law are also products of UofL's School of Medicine.

His son David attended medical school at UofL and now is in practice in Danville, KY. His daughter Evelyn M. Jones and her husband, Shawn Jones, completed medical school and residency at UofL. Evelyn practices dermatology, and Shawn practices otolaryngology in Paducah.

UofL really is part of our family, Montgomery said.