Howe to Speak at Annual SRPH Ibarra Lecture

John P. Howe III, M.D., the president and chief executive officer of Project HOPE, is the featured speaker at the annual Jesse D. Ibarra, Jr., M.D. Ibarra Lectureship in International Health, sponsored by the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health and the Scott & White Clinic Board. Dr. Howe will present the lecture, “Improving the Health and Well Being of Populations Around the Globe, on Friday, November 11, 2005, at 8:30 a.m. at the University Park Plaza classroom located at 1103 University Drive in College Station. Dr. Howe will also present the Ibarra Lecture in Temple at 12:30 p.m. on the same day.
Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) strives to achieve sustainable advances in health care around the world by implementing health education programs, conducting health policy research, and providing humanitarian assistance in areas of need. The S.S. HOPE, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship, is the trademark of the organization. Project HOPE now provides land-based medical training and health care education programs.
In 1993, the Scott & White Clinic Board established the Ibarra Lectureship to honor the half-century of contributions made by Dr. Ibarra, who retired from Scott & White after 43 years. The lectureship was funded by gifts from the many friends and former patients of Dr. Ibarra, who was an internist-endocrinologist. The School of Rural Public Health now partners with Scott & White in this lectureship.
Dr. Ibarra received his medical degree from the National University of Mexico Medical School and attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where he later served on the Board of Governors. He joined Scott & White senior staff in 1950 in the Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine.
As Chairman of Scott & White’s Special Projects Committee, Dr. Ibarra initiated establishment of the original health maintenance organization in the late 1970s which became known as the Scott & White Health Plan in 1982. Dr. Ibarra served as president of the Scott & White Health Plan Board of Directors from 1984 to 1989 and currently serves as Governor on that board.