Sister Rosemary Retires
Rosemary Flanigan, PhD retiring after 24 years at the Center for Practical Bioethics
Contact: Lorell LaBoube, (816)979-1358 or llaboube@practicalbioethics.org
It’s news no one wants to hear but everyone can understand – Rosemary Flanigan, PhD is retiring from the Center for Practical Bioethics effective this summer.
Dr. Flanigan joined the Center’s staff in 1992 after serving six years on the Center’s board of directors. Previously, she had taught philosophy at Rockhurst University for 17 years before hanging up the chalk. Sister Rosemary had also served on the board of directors at St. Joseph Medical Center in Kansas City.
“I was brought on board to help train hospital ethics committees,”Dr. Flanigan recalls. “I was amazed that, after spending my whole life in classrooms with younger people, that I was even able to work with adults. But it worked out and it was such fun.”
Myra Christopher, the Center’s president and CEO, says the Center was well aware of Rosemary’s ability to engage and communicate with people, and her marvelous reputation as a teacher.
“It was, and still is, very important for hospital ethics committees to be more than people of good will coming together to help with difficult and complex cases,” Christopher says. “Rosemary helped us make sure committee members were grounded in the discipline and fundamentals of bioethics. I can’t imagine anyone better than Rosemary to help the Center do this work.”
Dr. Flanigan remembers that work well, especially the long, early-morning trips to rural communities in Missouri and Kansas.
“We would leave at 4 oclock in the morning and we would go into the plains of Kansas and the hills of Missouri and we would work with these hospitals,” she says. “But the education always went both ways. There wasn’t a single ethics committee that we helped educate that we didn’t learn from as well.”
Christopher says every person who comes through the Center leaves an indelible contribution, but Dr. Flanigan is someone special.
“There’s no doubt that, without Rosemary, the past 24 years would not have been nearly as much fun nor would our work have been nearly as substantive,” Christopher says. “We are very grateful for Rosemary’s contribution.”
Dr. Flanigan’s contributions include leadership of an online discussion group with medical professionals across the country. The group has grown to more than 100 participants discussing medical ethics challenges presented by Dr. Flanigan.
In 1994 the Rosemary Flanigan Lecture began as a tribute to Dr. Flanigan. In recent years guest speakers have included two individuals who currently and previously served on presidential commissions on bioethics --- Daniel Sulmasy, OFM, MD, PhD of the University of Chicago, and Edmund Pellegrino, MD of Georgetown University Medical Center. The 2007 lecture featured Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, who has since worked with President Barack Obama on healthcare reform.
In 2006 a chair was established in her name to advance clinical ethics and public outreach at the Center. Terry Rosell, PhD, was named to the chair at the 2009 Flanigan Lecture.
Dr. Flanigan says she leaves the Center at a time of great influence. “The Center’s work has impact from coast to coast,” she says. “And that thrills me.”
Sister Rosemary’s last official function as Center staff comes August 3 with the Flanigan Lecture at St. Joseph Medical Center. The lecture is free but registration is requested by clicking here. A celebration event in her honor is scheduled for this fall.
Link: Podcast, Rosemary Flanigan and Myra Christopher, 14 minutes 3 seconds
