Central College welcomes Dr. Tom Boat, a 1961 alumnus of Central College, as this year’s commencement speaker. Executive associate dean of clinical affairs for the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and CEO of the University of Cincinnati physicians, Boat will receive a Doctor of Science honorary degree before he addresses the class of 2011 at commencement, Saturday, May 14, at H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse at 2 p.m.
“We are delighted to honor Tom as one of Central College’s most distinguished alumni,” said Mark Putnam, president of Central College. “He is an outstanding example for our students. His compassion for people, his values as a professional and his vision for the world will be inspiring to our graduates as they look to the future.”
Boat was on campus in March for Central’s health symposium in which he moderated a panel of health professionals who discussed patterns and trends of the health care field and the impact for future Central graduates.
Boat’s work is centered around responsive care to patients and families. He previously served as director of the Children’s Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati as well as professor, chair, director and physician-in-chief of the department of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Children’s Hospital Medical Center. A pediatric pulmonologist by training, he focused his early career on defining the pathophysiology of airway dysfunction and more effective therapies for chronic lung diseases of childhood, such as cystic fibrosis, a cause for which he served as co-director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. He has worked at local and national levels to improve research efforts, subspecialty training and clinical care in pediatrics. He has a special interest in issues posed by children’s mental health for pediatric care and training. Research areas include tracheobronchial secretions, pathophysiology of lung disease in cystic fibrosis and mucous glycoprotein biosynthesis. He’s written several pieces for publication in medical journals focusing on pediatric research and training.
Prior to his time in Cincinnati, Boat was professor and chair of the department of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill and on staff at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland as professor and senior instructor in pediatrics.
He gained widespread acclaim and attention for his work at local and national levels to improve research efforts and training in clinical care in pediatrics. In 2006, he was selected to receive the Ronald McDonald’s House Charities Award of Excellence — past recipients include John Wooden, Jimmy Carter and Colin Powell. He was a recipient of the Daniel Drake Medal from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and also received the St. Geme Award from the Federation of Pediatric Organizations. In 1990, Boat was honored with Central’s Distinguished Alumni Award and also has served on the National Advisory Council.
Co-chair of the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on the Science of Health Care Quality and Improvement and Implementation, Boat also is on the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Prevention of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth and Young Adults. He has served as chair of the American Board of Pediatrics and president of the Society for Pediatric Research, as well as the American Pediatric Society. A member of the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, he served as chair of the research development program advisory committee. He’s involved in numerous professional organizations including the Association of American Medical Colleges, American Medical Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Academy of Pediatrics. He is chair of the board of directors for the Agency for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs. Boat is president of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs Inc. and has been a board member since 2004.
A chemistry major at Central, he earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Iowa School of Medicine in 1977 and certifications in pediatrics and pediatric pulmonary medicine. He did a residency in pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and completed a fellowship in pediatric pulmonology at the University Hospitals of Cleveland.
Boat and wife, Barbara, live in Glendale, Ohio. Barbara, a licensed clinical psychologist, is associate professor in the psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience department at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and director of the program on childhood trauma and maltreatment. She is also executive director of the Childhood Trust at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Boat has family ties to Pella as his father, Bert Boat, was the original owner of Boat’s Home Furnishing in town. Both of Tom’s sisters, Andrea Boat Roorda ’60 and the late Barbara Boat Bush ’63, graduated from Central College. Andrea and husband Ervin Roorda, a 1960 Central graduate, live in Mill Creek, Wash.
