Missouri Western State University will confer its highest honor, an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, on Dr. Mark Laney, CEO of Mosaic Life Care, during the Spring Commencement ceremony May 7. Missouri Western’s Board of Governors unanimously approved the honor during their regular meeting Feb. 25.
“Since his arrival in the community seven years ago, Dr. Laney has been a remarkable champion for this university and community,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “His contributions and service to Missouri Western are numerous: he and Mary-Margaret Laney have served with Dan and Dale Boulware as co-chairs of our Centennial Capital Campaign, and Mosaic has generously supported our science and health programs. He has also been a champion of our entire community, including his support of downtown revitalization by the relocation of Mosaic Life Care facilities there.”
Under Dr. Laney’s leadership, Mosaic Life Care has made two significant gifts to Missouri Western: $500,000 for badly needed scientific equipment in Remington and Agenstein Halls, and $1.5 million to create the first endowed professorship in Missouri Western’s history. Mosaic also continues to provide substantial in-kind and direct financial support for Missouri Western through shared personnel, scholarships and other means.
Dr. Laney joined Mosaic Life Care in 2009. Prior to this, he served for 20 years at Cook Children’s Health Care System in Fort Worth, Texas, eight of those years as the president of the Cook Children’s Physician Network.
Dr. Laney earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, received a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and completed a Pediatric Neurology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. In 2000, he received a Master of Science in medical management at the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas.
Dr. Laney is the former president of the Mayo Clinic Alumni Association and is one of the “30 Best Physician Leaders of Hospitals and Health Systems” according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
Dr. Laney dedicates his time by sitting on boards including the Institute for Industrial and Applied Life Sciences, the Community Alliance of St. Joseph and the St. Joseph Metro Chamber of Commerce. He is a past chairman of both the Chamber of Commerce as well as the Missouri Hospital Association.
Missouri Western’s Spring Commencement will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 7, in the newly renovated Spratt Memorial Stadium.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.