News Center

VCU Investiture Celebration dinner honors 16 VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers and scientists who have recently been awarded endowed chair and professorship positions

On Oct. 5, Virginia Commonwealth University donors, researchers and faculty from across its many colleges and centers came together to celebrate the philanthropic generosity that has created hundreds of endowed professorships and chairs at the university to address critical health challenges, including the fight against cancer.

Honorees at the 2023 Investiture Celebration dinner at the Altria Theater in Richmond included 16 VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers and physician-scientists who have been recently appointed to endowed professorship or chair positions. These individuals were recognized among 50 School of Medicine faculty members and 77 faculty members from across the university, who were formally invested and presented with medallions during the celebration. Many of the generous donors, whose philanthropic support funded or supported the endowed positions, were there to celebrate alongside the newly invested faculty members and researchers.

“Privately-endowed professorships and chairs are crucial to building a faculty roster of exceptional scholars, researchers and clinicians,” said School of Medicine Dean Art Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A. “This growing number of endowments enables us to continue to recruit and retain the talented individuals who are building a tradition of excellence at the medical school that’s shared by the nation’s top institutions.” “We often talk about a future without cancer and what that means for the communities we serve,” said Robert A. Winn, M.D., Massey director and Jeanette and Eric Lipman Chair in Oncology. ”One way to do that is to empower our researchers to push new and innovative ideas that can sometimes be difficult to fund through traditional sources. Endowments are critical, not only in enabling Massey to attract and retain top researchers, but in providing them with a sustained stream of resources they need to make new discoveries that can change, and save, lives.”

Today, a total of 170 endowed professorships and chairs support the work of Massey, VCU School of Medicine and VCU Health clinicians and scientists. Momentum and interest in providing faculty support is growing with more than three dozen endowed funds established by generous donors in the past decade. The endowments carry the names of outstanding alumni, faculty and friends who have led and benefited from the institution’s work. 

Jose Trevino, M.D., the newly invested Geoffrey R. Shudtz Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research, with members of the Shudtz family at the Altria Theater in October 2023.

Jose Trevino, M.D., Massey’s surgeon-in-chief and chair of the School of Medicine’s Division of Surgical Oncology, was among the newly invested researchers. Trevino, who specializes in pancreatic cancer research, is the first to be appointed as the Geoffrey R. Shudtz Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research. This newly endowed position was established in 2022 to honor and remember Geoffrey Shudtz, a beloved son, husband and father diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer at the age of 34. Shudtz’s legacy for positivity lives on through his family and the work of the Fight Cancer Stay Positive Foundation, an organization founded to honor Shudtz’s zest for life while raising funds for pancreatic cancer detection and treatment.

As the first Massey researcher to hold the position, Trevino is excited about the opportunities it provides him and his discipline. Endowed funds both benefit the holder and help to sustain the center’s mission for innovative research, quality patient care, and education and outreach in the community. Some endowments support the work of scientists who lead labs where research teams work together to advance discoveries. Other endowment holders are highly-regarded physicians who offer unmatched care for patients, and award-winning educators who provide life-changing mentorship to those who follow in their footsteps.

“It really shows a significant level of confidence in a person for a donor to say that they believe in the work we’re doing here at VCU, and at Massey,” Trevino said.

Trevino hopes to make Geoff and his family proud.

“Geoffrey was different,” Trevino said. “He took on cancer and said, ‘I’m going to beat it.’ For me to carry on that name under an endowed chair, means everything. That is something that I look at every day, as I maneuver forward, as I wake up in the morning and I treat patients with pancreatic cancer and I do the research behind it.”

Geoff’s family – including his parents, Peter and Karen Shudtz, wife Julie Shudtz, and his sister and brother-in-law – attended the event and celebrated together, smiling ear to ear beneath the marquee alongside Trevino.

“We were inspired by Geoffrey’s care at Massey,” his mother, Karen Shudtz, said. “We want Geoffrey to be remembered as the positive, giving spirit that he was.”

“Our contribution to this is just what we were hoping would get it started,” added Geoff’s dad, Peter Shudtz. “We’re delighted with Massey’s choice of Dr. Trevino as the first occupant of the chair.”

“Massey gave us hope and a chance, and didn’t give up on us,” said Geoff’s wife and co-founder of the FCSP Foundation, Julie Shudtz.“He was truly, truly a special human being.”

Watch Video

Watch a video highlighting the impact and importance of endowment gifts for chairs and professorships, including the Geoffrey R. Shudtz Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research position, that was shown at the 2023 VCU Investiture Celebration.

Hear from Dr. Trevino and the Shudtz family, starting at the 2:22 mark.

View photos from the 2023 Investiture event

Oxana Palesh, Ph.D.
Massey Cancer Center Chair in Cancer Research

Leslie M. Randall, M.D.
Dianne Harris Wright Professorship for the Division Director of Gynecologic Oncology
Dianne Harris Wright Professorship for OB-Gyn Oncology Research

Said Sebti, Ph.D.
Lacy Family Chair in Cancer Research

Jose G. Trevino, M.D.
Geoffrey R. Shudtz Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research

Xiang-Yang Wang, Ph.D.
Harry and Judy Wason Distinguished Professorship

Robert A. Winn, M.D.
Jeanette and Eric Lipman Chair in Oncology

Yuesheng Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.
Harrigan, Haw, Luck Families Chair in Cancer Research

Written by: Katherine Layton and Erin Lucero