This much is true: Twenty years after growing the University of Colorado Cancer Center into one of the finest facilities of its kind, Dr. Paul Bunn has stepped down as its director.
This much isn’t: He has retired to a life of leisure.
Sure, there was a retirement dinner for him, and 300 people from around the world attended it. But they and everyone else who has had the pleasure of knowing the affable clinician and researcher would be in for a big surprise if Bunn actually did trade his shingle for a “Gone Fishin’ ” sign or start snoozing his days away in a Barcalounger. He plans to devote more time to seeing patients and serving on professional committees.
As Dr. Richard Krugman, dean of the CU School of Medicine, noted: “We will miss Paul as an administrator, but patients who get the benefit of his now meeting-free schedule will be ecstatic to have more time with their doctor, who National Cancer Institute Director John Niederhuber calls ‘one of our nation’s heroes in the struggle to overcome cancer.’ ”
Phil and Nancy Anschutz, who have given millions through their charitable foundation to the Cancer Center, were honorary chairmen for the dinner, along with former CU President Hank Brown and his wife, Nan.
Brown announced that an effort to raise $2 million for an endowed chair in Bunn’s honor has passed the halfway mark; it will be awarded to Bunn’s successor. A nationwide search for that person is now underway.
Niederhuber was to be the keynote speaker but his flight was canceled so he sent a heart-felt video in which he praised Bunn for founding and building the CU Cancer Center to its position as one of the foremost cancer centers in the country, the equivalent of such noted centers as M.D. Anderson or Sloan-Kettering. It is the only one in the Rocky Mountain region and one of only 39 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the U.S.
Krugman and Brown helped fill the speaker gap, leading one faculty member to observe that Krugman could be a stand-up comic if the medical school ever closes, while Brown should go on the circuit as a storyteller.
One of the high points of the evening was a video chronicling Bunn’s tenure. Remarks from colleagues ran the gamut from flattering (Krugman’s observation that “Paul always looks like he stepped out of the pages of GQ magazine”) to the comical. When asked what the Cancer Center will be like without Bunn, the associate director, Dr. Tim Byers, quipped “It will be a lot better,” then laughed and added “don’t use that.” Development director Libby Printz said she’ll miss Bunn because he always smiles when he sees her, but mostly, she’ll “miss his blue eyes.”
Several of those serving with Bunn on the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer were at the dinner, joining such as CU’s new president, Bruce Benson, and wife Marcy; Chancellor Roy Wilson; Joel and Beth Edelman; Jim and Pamela Basey; Mary Lee and Don Beauregard; Amy Davis; Dick and Marcia Robinson; Mimi Weil; Midge Wallace; Dr. Bob and Nancy Allen; and Carolyn Fancher.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson @denverpost.com; also, blogs.denverpost.com/davidson
