Drake University - Quax Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

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Elntrnhnrtinn. 19' T IS our pleasure to introduce to the University community Dr. J. L. Sawyers, the newly elected President of the Board of Trustees. who, as the incumbent of this important office, is destined to sustain a very inti- mate relationship to the life and interests centered here. From the many good reports that have come to us, we are assured that he is happily fitted. by endowments and training, to deal with the intricate problems that will come to him as a leader in the business policies, as well as an adviser in the general inter- ests of the institution. Dr. Sawyers was born at Unionville, Iowa. July 18, 1856. His ancestors have been conspicuous in church and state for more than two hundred years in this country, and for centuries previous in Europe. . His father, Dr. S. H. Sawyers, Sr., practiced medicine in Unionville for forty years, until his death in 1892. He was noted for wide learning. extensive and accurate memory. and cultured deportment. He was successful both as a prac- titioner and a financier, and was a close friend of Governor Drake. His mother, Mary F. Miller, is a native of Tennessee, and lives now at Ottumwa. She is a woman of exceptional endowment of mind and heart. Dr. Sawyers received his earlier education in the public schools of Unionville. and entered Iowa College. but his studies were broken oi? by sickness. Applying for admission to the Chicago Schools of Medicine. he was barred on account of his youth. He therefore took his first medical course at Louisville, graduating at the age of nineteen with highest possible honors. and winning a gold medal for all around excellence. lt may be added that he had been tutored in medicine at home from the time he could talk. He took graduate work in Chicago, after which he served for two years as interne at Cook County Hospital. He then went abroad, finishing at the University of Vienna, making a. special study of the eye. ear and throat. Returning from Europe, Dr. Sawyers married Jennie. second daughter of Ceneral Drake. and settled in Centerville, where he practiced medicine until a year ago. when he sold his practice and good will to a younger brother, Dr. C. E. Sawyers, and once more gratified his passion for research in medicine by going to Baltimore for a course in Johns-Hopkins University. V Dr. Sawyers is an eminent surgeon, and is said to have had the largest private practice in Iowa, being called far and near for surgery .and consultation. The following is an extract from a letter from one who knows him intimately: He is a terrific worker: careful in business: in surgery, daring in the extreme: widely read: intense and uncompromising in his opinions: he has a commanding personality, an indomitable will. and an all around executive ability that is the 14

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DR. JOHN LAZELLE SAWYERS President of the Board of Trustees

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wonder of all who know him: as a planner and leader, he has had no equal in his part of the state for several years. Dr. Sawyers is president of the Centerville National Bank, and of the Cen- terville Business Men's Association. At a conference of the heirs of General Drake. he was chosen to take full charge of the estate: and his election to the presidency of the Board of Trustees of Drake University was with the hearty approval of all the members ofthe family. I-Iis hearty interest in the institution was evidenced by a s5,ooo gift toward the new medical building. His generosity and devotion to the church are well known. The hope is freely expressed that Dr. Sawyers will eventually make his home in Des Moines. We assure him and his family a most hearty welcome. CHARLES O. DENNY. I 3