Northeast News
November 20, 2012

Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences’ president and chief executive officer is stepping down, effective Dec. 31, 2012.

H. Danny Weaver, D.O., FACOFP, plans to return to his private medical practice following the end of the academic semester.

Weaver served as chairman of KCUMB’s Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2009 and served as acting president and chief executive officer from December 2009 to September 2010 until he was officially appointed to the position. Weaver replaced Karen Pletz, who served as CEO and president for 14 years. KCUMB fired Pletz in 2009 and filed a lawsuit, alleging she misused school funds. In 2011, a federal grand jury charged Pletz in a 24-count indictment, alleging she embezzled more than $1.5 million from KCUMB, falsified tax returns and participated in money laundering. Following her death in November of 2011, the criminal charges were dropped.

“We are grateful to Danny for his leadership and dedication to KCUMB, especially over the last few years,” said Terry Dunn, chairman of KCUMB’s Board of Trustees. “The Board recognizes that his willingness to serve as president during such a critical time in the university’s history came at great personal and professional sacrifice. We wish him the best as he enters the next chapter of his career.”

Weaver called KCUMB a second home that remained “a constant throughout my life.”

“It has been a privilege to serve as both president and chair of the Board of Trustees,” Weaver said. “KCUMB’s leadership, faculty, staff and alumni have demonstrated a real commitment to making this university a premier osteopathic medical education and biosciences institution of higher learning. I am extremely proud of the progress we have made and believe that great things lay ahead for this institution.”

Marshall Walker, D.O., director of medical education for Via Christi Health System in Wichita, Kan., and current vice-chair of KCUMB’s Board of Trustees, will serve as acting president and chief executive officer while KCUMB conducts a national search to fill the position.