Women’s Hall of Fame Honors Two CU Past Presidents
I’ve been a member of The Denver Lions Club for 45 years. One of the Club’s greatest achievements since being one of 24 Charter Lions Club chartered in 1917 in Dallas, TX. Rotary was founded a few years earlier, and along with Optimists and Kiwanis they do outstanding projects for local communities. The Denver Lions Club led the way to found what is known today as the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus that includes the Susan Anschutz Eye Center. The facility was initially funded by Colorado and Wyoming Lions starting as a major project in the early 1990s. Hellen Keller was a guiding light for Lions, and she dubbed Lions her “Knights of The Blind.”
The Denver Lions Club took the lead role in moving the Ophthalmology Department from the CU Medical Campus at the University out to Fitzsimmons to a new $6 million vision center with funds raised by Dr. Bateman and Colorado and Wyoming donors.
The Denver Lions, working with CU, hired Dr. Bronwyn Bateman, a highly respected Ophthalmologist/Surgeon from UCLA, to come to Denver. She was named department head and began working with Dr. Fulginiti who was the Dean of the CU Medical Campus. The team parlayed moving the aging campus out to Fitzsimmons and Dr. Bateman supported moving her staff, as the first department, to move to Fitzsimmons. It was the beginning of the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Institute (RMLEI) that still exists today in support of the Anschutz Campus. Along with operating the Lion facility, Dr. Bateman performed regular eye surgery at Children’s Hospital. Today, the campus is vast, the surrounding area has the new VA hospital, a Hyatt hotel, massive retail developments, and dozens of University of Colorado departments with ongoing cancer research and many medical research teams, along with medical students on the campus.
During her career in the development of the RMLEI, Dr. Bateman worked in close relationships with two University of Colorado Presidents, Ph.D. Judith Albino and Ph.D. Elizabeth Hoffman.
Dr. Bateman is now retired, living in California, and engaged with UCLA where she started her stellar career. While in Colorado she became a supporter of The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, now headquartered in Greenwood Village at 6530 S. Yosemite St. In gratitude of the leadership of Dr. Albino and Hoffman she nominated both to the Women’s Hall of Fame and they were honored at a recent ceremony at the Denver Sheraton Hotel with over 900 invitees to witness the induction of 16 honorees. It was a great evening and we’ll be running more on the event with a list of all the honorees.
Because of my Lions membership and dedication to the project, working with Dr. Bateman and CU leadership, my wife Gerri and I, were her invited guests at the ceremony where her nominees were honored.
Great projects are produced by great leadership and the trio of women Albino, Hoffman and Bateman led the way to the creation of the largest University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus in Colorado history.
We were honored to be in attendance and see some old friends. The Villager will be working with Hall of Fame leaders for more details and award winner photos: www.cogreatwomen.org/donate