DMU is in debt to two graduates who were steadfast advocates of the osteopathic profession and their medical alma mater.
Gilbert Bucholz was a 1958 graduate of Des Moines University’s osteopathic medical program and a steadfast advocate for his profession. A retired radiologist who passed away on April 5, he served as president of the American Osteopathic Foundation, the American Osteopathic Association and the Ohio Osteopathic Association. He also served as president of the Northwest Ohio Radiologists and a member of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology Board of Trustees.
In addition, he was a member and chair of the DMU Board of Trustees, retiring as emeritus trustee in 2015 after 39 years of service.
“I am saddened to hear of the loss of our emeritus board member, Dr. Bucholz. He made a major impact on the osteopathic profession as well as his alma mater,” said DMU President Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D. “I have fond memories of the many thoughtful and intriguing conversations I had with Dr. Bucholz during my tenure as president at DMU. He loved to share his perspective as a proud alumnus but always seemed to find joy and humor in every encounter. His passion for his alma mater and the osteopathic profession were known by all, and he will be greatly missed.”
Dr. Bucholz was a clinical professor of radiology at DMU and the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He was also a leading force behind the establishment of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and a team physician for the World Wrestling team at the 1968 Olympics.
That he held so many leadership roles in his profession was congruent with his days as a DMU student, during which he worked at a local funeral home, as a janitor and as a night orderly at Iowa Lutheran Hospital with his friend and classmate, Roger Senty, D.O.’58.
“He was a full employment individual and still was able to have competitive grades,” Dr. Senty says. “He was always taking notes on things. He was very bright and was a very special guy.”
Richard “Dick” Kotz, D.O.’56, who passed away in Des Moines on Aug. 26, served on the DMU Board of Trustees for more than four decades, including as chair from 1990 to 1995. In practice, he was chair of pathology and medical laboratory director at the former Des Moines General Hospital. He was president of the American Osteopathic College of Pathologists in the mid-1970s and was an examiner for the American Osteopathic Board of Pathologists from 1967 to 1976.
Dr. Kotz supported the University as a member of the Founders Society, which honors donors for cumulative lifetime gifts of $100,000 and greater. He and his spouse established the Margaret A. and Richard M. Kotz Scholarship to benefit students in DMU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine who have demonstrated academic achievement, leadership qualities and financial need.
A past member of the Iowa State Comprehensive Health Planning Advisory Council, Dr. Kotz also served on the medical advisory committee of the Health Planning Council of Central Iowa. He helped found the Blood Center of Central Iowa and served on its board of from 1962 to 1991. He received the National Leadership Award from the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation in 1975.
