When Bob DeFoor ’87 checked in with us several years back, he said that he was still using skills and values that he learned at KA every day—whether it be in his personal life, or in his profession as a urologist and surgeon at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
“I will always remember Lee’s Definition of a Gentleman that a brother had me memorize for his signature,” Bob said. “This inspirational memorandum values humility and empathy in the use of knowledge and power in relating to others. These are skills that I must use every day when a parent trusts me to take care of their infant or young child both at the bedside as well as in the operating room.”
Bob also credited KA with helping him learn how to deal with conflict and differing opinions, and to confront problems head-on without delay.
It is clear that Bob is still upholding all of these values well, as he was recently promoted to a full professor for the University of Cincinnati. He has also been serving as the director of Cincinnati Children’s fellowship-training program for several years. As he works to pass his wisdom onto young upcoming doctors and surgeons, he thinks of the active KA brothers in a similar light as his students, which is why he chooses to support Alpha Sigma financially.
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I think having a strong alumni influence is important to the current chapter members, who are just starting to figure out what they want to do in their careers as well as in life,” he says. “We’re now understanding in medicine how important mentors are for young faculty and surgeons, and it’s likely that this has been well known in engineering and business fields as well.”
Bob says he keeps up with his brothers mostly through text, social media, and our alumni update features. He was very sad to hear of the passing of Peter Anderson ’85, who was one of the brothers he had looked up to tremendously as a pledge. Last summer, Bob made it back to Atlanta for his son to visit campus and got together for a great dinner with Thomas Duttera ’87, Mark Tiller ’90 and Burt Deardorff ’87.
“It’s absolutely amazing how the area around campus has transformed—not only the old Techwood Homes area, but also the new development north and west of campus and across the 5th Street bridge into Midtown,” he says. “On our tour, I was intrigued how the true center of campus has migrated more ‘west’ over the years, and how Woodruff Hall was no longer the penultimate dorm!”
Along with both of their medical careers, Bob and his wife, Cathy, keep busy raising their three children. Their oldest son is a rising senior who is currently looking at colleges.