Marietta, Georgia- November 11, 2022- Life University, in partnership with the Integrative Health Policy Consortium (IHPC), is pleased to announce the establishment of an annual, invited lecture series, focusing on the goals and values of each organization from the perspective of Lasting Purpose: to love for the sake of loving, to serve for the sake of serving, to give for the sake of giving and to do for the sake of doing from a position of universal abundance, seeking nothing in return.
The lectureship series has been created by the partners in honor of Gerard W. Clum, D.C.
Dr. Clum was a member of the founding faculty of Life Chiropractic College, now known as Life University (Life U). Over a six-year period while carrying a full teaching load, he held positions at Life Chiropractic College which included Registrar, Director of Admissions and Chair of the Chiropractic Sciences Division before being appointed the President of Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward, California in January 1981.
During his tenure as president of Life West, Dr. Clum also served on the Board of Directors or as an officer of the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), the International Chiropractors Association (ICA), the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC), the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) and the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP). Dr. Clum served as president of Life West through January 2011. At that time, he returned to the faculty of Life U and accepted a position as Director of The Octagon, a think tank focusing on eight key areas of interest articulated by Life University.
Simultaneously, Dr. Clum was appointed as the representative of Life U to the Board of Directors of the IHPC. As a confederation of healthcare disciplines, practices, practitioners, and patients, IHPC seeks to remove barriers to healthcare services for all persons. Dr. Clum went on to serve as the treasurer and, subsequently, as the co-chair of the Consortium before retiring from these duties due to health constraints just prior to the outset of COVID-19.
Dr. Clum was chosen for this honor for his decades of activity trying to bring greater awareness and appreciation for the role that non-conventional health care plays in the creation and maintenance of personal and societal well-being. While the core of his efforts has been associated with the chiropractic profession, the barriers experienced by chiropractors and chiropractic patients were not limited to a single discipline and were similarly experienced by the acupuncture, massage, naturopathic, midwife and holistic nursing communities, among others. Through IHPC, each of these communities found a sense of camaraderie and experienced the kinship of being fellow travelers toward a shared vision of health, health care and healthy living.
The lectureship series was proposed by the leadership of IHPC and then, following discussions, was co-sponsored to be delivered annually through Life U in Marietta, Georgia.
The inaugural presentation of the Gerard W. Clum Lasting Purpose Leadership Legacy Lectureship was given by Len Wisneski, M.D. on October 1, 2022, at the President’s Plenary Session of Life University’s annual LIFE Vision Extravaganza, a continuing education conference with an audience of approximately 1,600 attendees.
Reflecting on the choice of Dr. Wisneski for the initial lecture in this series, Life U President Rob Scott, D.C., Ph.D., noted “We are incredibly happy that Dr. Wisneski agreed to deliver this historic address. As Chair Emeritus of IHPC and a person dedicated to health development and promotion across professional boundaries, we could think of no better person to capture the hopes and intention of this lecture series.”
The perspective offered by Dr. Wisneski wove together Dr. Clum’s history and background in the chiropractic community, especially Life U and Life Chiropractic College West, and the activity of IHPC and Life U in advancing health matters on a policy level highlighting Congressional testimony, Congressional briefings, interagency collaboration, and interdisciplinary conferences. He gave the audience a front-row seat to the multi-faceted and multi-layered nature of engagement of various stakeholders across health care seeking to remove barriers to increase access and funding of health care in America.
Following the presentation, Dr. Clum commented that “Dr. Wisneski did a spectacular job of bringing the complex world of health policy development down to the level and needs of the individual practitioner with a single patient. The power of mutually respectful, interdisciplinary collaboration was highlighted in a positive, non-threatening and engaging manner. Dr. Wisneski was skillful and articulate! I am honored beyond words to be associated with this effort in such a central and meaningful way.”
The 2023 iteration of the Gerard W. Clum Lasting Purpose Leadership Legacy Lectureship is due to be presented during Life U’s LIFE Vision Extravaganza in late September 2023.
Founded in 1974, Life University is a health sciences institution most known for its College of Chiropractic, the largest single-campus College of Chiropractic in the world. Undergraduates can pursue undergraduate degrees; a pre-chiropractic, degree-seeking pathway; and graduate degrees within the College of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies. Some degree programs are offered to distance learners through the College of Online Education.
Life University strives to empower our students to succeed both professionally and personally. At Life U, we innovate our approach to higher education, while also remaining true to our philosophical commitment to produce informed leaders who exemplify humanistic values in their professions. To achieve this goal, Life U recognizes and demonstrates its dedication through three official Life University Values: Lasting Purpose, Vitalism and Integrity.
Life U’s 110-acre campus in Marietta, Georgia, just northwest of Atlanta, is home to more than 2,800 undergraduate, graduate and professional students who come from all 50 United States and more than 65 countries
For more information about Life University, visit life.edu.
About Life University
Life University is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, master’s and Doctor of Chiropractic degrees, and also has programmatic accreditation through the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) and the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). The mission of Life University is to empower students with the education, skills and values necessary for career success and life fulfillment, based on a vitalistic philosophy.
About IHPC
The IHPC is a 501(c)(4) Association focused on eliminating barriers to health. The organization advocates for a healthcare system that empowers people to control their own health and health-promoting practices. It seeks to optimize health-promoting capacity in individuals, organizations and health professions, and it does so by empowering people through education, knowledge and information, advocacy, access, communication, and collaboration. IHPC members are comprised of non-profit educational and advocacy organizations from across the complementary and integrative health and medicine spectrum, working together toward our shared goals.
About Gerard W. Clum, D.C.
Dr. Clum is a 1973 Palmer College of Chiropractic graduate, has been a faculty member at Palmer, a founding faculty member at Life Chiropractic College (now Life University) and first president of Life Chiropractic College West holding office from January 1981 through January 2011. He served on the board of directors or as an officer of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, the Council on Chiropractic Education, the International Chiropractors Association, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress and the World Federation of Chiropractic. He presently serves on the board of directors of the F4CP, the New Zealand Chiropractic Research Trust, the Australian Chiropractic College and the Integrative Health Policy Consortium.
Since retiring from the presidency of Life Chiropractic College West as President Emeritus, he accepted appointments as Presidential Liaison for External Affairs at Life University, Director of The Octagon, and Director of the Center for Compassion, Integrity and Secular Ethics. In 2016, Dr. Clum accepted the position of Executive Director of The Rubicon Group. In 1980, Dr. Clum was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Chiropractic Humanities (H.C.D.) by Life Chiropractic College and in 2018 was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters (D.H.L.) by Life University.
Dr. Clum and his wife of 48 years, Cathy, have three children, Don, a 2000 graduate of Life West; Cassie, a 25-year employee of Life West; and Lauren, a 2005 graduate of Life West. Lauren currently serves as the Dean of Clinical Operations at Life Chiropractic College West. The Clums have been blessed with four grandchildren, the oldest of whom is a third-year D.C. student at Life University.
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