The School of Medicine announced that Dr. James Stannard, chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at MU, received a $2 million donation from the Wyss Medical Foundation for expanding his work in orthopaedic research and studies.

The donation was announced Friday morning at the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute. Provost Garnett Stokes, School of Medicine Dean Patrice Delafontaine and Steve Schwartz, a board member at the Wyss Medical Foundation, spoke at the event about Stannard’s accomplishments.

Stokes said Stannard has received numerous awards for his work in orthopaedic surgery and research on skeletal trauma in complex knee surgeries.

Stannard was also named the Wyss Distinguished Chair in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stokes said.

The funding will go toward research and projects of Stannard’s choosing, Schwartz said.

The open-ended spending of the donation gives the university a bit of “wiggle room” in terms of how Stannard spends the money because it’s hard to predict what might need funding, Schwartz said.

“We like to give gifts that are translated into a passion,” Schwartz said. “Passion is kind of the operative word for what we’re about as a medical foundation.”

Ideally, Schwartz said the Wyss Medical Foundation would like the money to go toward areas within the orthopaedic field that might fall through the cracks of mainstream funding programs and that are generally underfunded.

Orthopaedic surgery professor James Cook said the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute will be able to grow considerably with this donation through providing funding to train new physicians and discovering treatments for patients.

“As the recipient, Stannard will be able to devote more time and energy to shaping the future of orthopedics through his work at the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute,” Stokes said.

Delafontaine said this donation will be transformative for orthopaedic surgery and Stannard, as a “pioneering leader” of the field, will greatly help to further not only Missouri, but national and international understandings of orthopaedic surgery.

“I want to recognize Stannard for his outstanding contributions to the School of Medicine,” Delafontaine said. “He embodies the physicians’ scholarly dedication to achieving a mission of teaching, healing and discovery.”

The donation to the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute is indicative of the institute’s main priority to explore further treatment and research, Schwartz said.

Schwartz and Stannard have known one another for years, Schwartz said. He has therefore been able to see Stannard work as a leader and scientist.

“Any place that’s lucky enough to have Dr. Stannard as its chairman is that much better off,” Schwartz said.

Stannard thanked the presenters for their comments and said he greatly appreciated the donation from the Wyss Foundation.

“Being able to announce a transformative gift is amazing,” he said. “Being able to receive a transformative gift is that much more amazing.”

_Edited by Olivia Garrett | ogarrett@themaneater.com_