Controversial medical school dean resigns

Dean Robert Daugherty's resignation from the University of Nevada School of Medicine brings to a close one of the longest running academic careers in in the state.

When Daugherty steps down at the end of the 1998-99 school year, he will have been dean of the medical school for 17 years. His resignation takes effect July 1, 1999, but he plans to stay on at the university as professor of health care policy.

The controversial Daugherty is credited by some with doing much to change the face of both campuses in Las Vegas and Reno. While some Las Vegans feel he has made positive changes, others believe he has done very little to bolster the medical school's image in Southern Nevada.

"I am proud of our institution, and in having accomplished what I set out to do as a medical educator," Daugherty, 63, said in a written statement Tuesday. "By any measure -- the caliber of our faculty, the quality of our students, the updating of our curriculum, the scope and viability of our research -- the University of Nevada School of Medicine stands with the best."

Dr. Bernard Feldman, vice chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Las Vegas campus, said Daugherty has allowed him to hire more faculty in his department as the needs of the city have grown. In three years, Feldman said his department has expanded from four to 13 members. And since July 1, 12 resident physicians came on board.

"We have enjoyed working with Dean Daugherty," said Dr. Christine Petersen, chief medical officer at Sierra Health Services Inc. "We have worked with him on residency training. He's always been very supportive of our efforts..."

Ralph Denton, former chairman of the Medical School Advisory Board, credits Daugherty with improving the medical school's image throughout the national medical community. He said the dean has helped the school increase its freshman base from as little as five students to an average of 45 a year today.

But while the dean has done well improving the academic images of both campuses, he has received a poor grade in Southern Nevada in other subjects.

Most criticism has centered around his failure to raise enough funding for a proposed 85,000 square-foot education and patient-care center on 10 acres in the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley. The city gave the school the land in 1994, and construction has not yet begun.

In July, Daugherty placed the blame on Southern Nevadans for not contributing toward the $17 million project. So far, only about $8 million has been raised.

Critics shot back by attacking the deans' lack of fundraising efforts. They said he spent very little time meeting and cultivating potential donors in Southern Nevada, and that he only came down from Reno twice a week. They said he mostly met with faculty to discuss academics.

A former contributor to the medical school and longtime Las Vegas resident, who requested anonymity, said it was standard practice for Daugherty to meet with a potential contributor only once and immediately ask for a million-dollar donation.

"In this community, you have to go out and be part of the community," the contributor said. "People don't want to meet with someone, if they only want to put the touch on them for money."

The former contributor described the Daugherty fundraising team as a "very dysfunctional family."

"I never did like him personally," said Marjorie Barrick, a major contributor to philanthropic enterprises in Southern Nevada. "I think he is more involved in Reno. It's been two or three years since I talked to him. He hasn't tried to contact me, or talk to any of my friends."

James Algian of the Lincy Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Las Vegas billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, said he met with Daugherty once and was left to believe that the medical school was a facility only for the University of Nevada, Reno.

Jan Evans, director of development with the medical school and co-director of fundraising efforts with Daugherty, said it was the dean's policy not to be overbearing when approaching potential donors.

"Some development offices are hard-hitting," Evans said. "We are not comfortable with that. You are not going to see a lot of aggressive or high-pressure salemanship out of the School of Medicine."

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