Joyce Ritenour Fairman
The Fairman Family Foundation of DuBois has gifted $250,000 to Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine.
“On behalf of the Fairman Foundation, we are proud to support this courageous initiative that will benefit countless generations to come,” Fairman Family Foundation President Joyce Ritenour Fairman said.
“My son, Derek, and I are both very proud IUP graduates and are fully supportive of the commitment IUP has made to community health and wellness,” she said. “My daughter, Lisa, as a dermatologist practicing in rural Pennsylvania, sees the effects of the shortage of primary health care physicians. Private gifts to the prospective college of osteopathic medicine are crucial to helping to address the healthcare crisis in our commonwealth and especially in our rural communities,” she said. Derek Fairman is a 2003 IUP computer science graduate.
The Fairman Family Foundation gift is the second $250,000 gift for the proposed college of osteopathic medicine announced in 2025; a $250,000 gift from an anonymous donor was announced in early February.
To date, IUP has secured more than $31 million in private and government funding for the initiative. Once established, a college of osteopathic medicine at IUP is expected to generate $79 million in annual regional economic impact.
Joyce Fairman has served as a member of IUP’s Council of Trustees since 2013 and is currently secretary of the Council, which is responsible for financial oversight of the university and compliance of university policy with state law. She is also a member of the Punxsutawney Regional Advancement Council.
She earned both a bachelor’s degree (1976, anthropology and sociology) and an MBA degree (1984) from IUP. She is self-employed in the oil and gas production field and is part-owner of Fairman Corporation of DuBois, an operator of natural gas wells. In addition to this work, she is the accounting manager for DuBois Dermatology and Cosmetics, a practice owned by her daughter, Lisa Fairman Pfingstler.
The Fairman Family Foundation financially supports many activities that promote the physical and mental health of young people in the local communities, including IUP’s Emergency Relief Fund, established to help students who experienced financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Foundation has provided major financial support for the IUP Academy of Culinary Arts, the Culinary long-range building project, and the Fairman Centre project in Punxsutawney, named in recognition of the Fairman family’s generosity.
The Fairman Centre, dedicated in 2009, repurposes the former J.B. Eberhart Building in downtown Punxsutawney with classrooms and teaching kitchens for the Academy. It was made possible through a $1.9-million gift from the Alan and Roy Fairman families and is named in honor of Joyce Fairman’s late husband, Alan Fairman, and her father-in-law, the late Roy Fairman.
Alan Fairman was a 1976 IUP graduate, and Roy R. Fairman was an IUP trustee from 1989 to 1993 and a member of the Foundation for IUP Board of Directors from 1983 to 1991. He also served on the Punxsutawney Advisory Board.
“Mrs. Fairman and the Fairman Family Foundation’s ongoing generosity create real and meaningful differences in the lives of our students and our programs, including the Academy of Culinary Arts,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
“This gift to IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine is a testament to the Fairmans’ faith in the life-changing possibilities of education in the form of opportunities for talented students committed to rural health, and how a proposed college of osteopathic medicine can positively change the health and wellness of citizens of the commonwealth, especially rural residents,” he said.
“As a member of the IUP Council of Trustees and the Punxsutawney Regional Advancement Council, Mrs. Fairman has been a cheerleader for IUP and champion of the proposed college of osteopathic medicine since we began discussions about the initiative. She brings great experience in business and philanthropy to her alma mater and is a great resource of information and advice. Members of the Council of Trustees are deeply invested in the future of this university, and I cannot thank them enough for the work that they do on behalf of IUP.”
IUP’s Council of Trustees endorsed the exploration of a possible development of a college of osteopathic medicine at IUP in December 2022. IUP has formally initiated steps towards accreditation of its proposed college of osteopathic medicine from the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, a three- to five-year process that includes submission of self-studies and a feasibility study, along with site visits.
Doctors of osteopathic medicine complete four years of osteopathic medical school with an emphasis on preventive medicine and comprehensive patient care. National data shows that more than half of the graduates of osteopathic medicine programs pursue a career in primary care, and many choose to practice in rural areas. There has been a 93 percent increase in applicants to colleges of osteopathic medicine since 2011.
Miko Rose was hired as the founding dean of the proposed college of osteopathic medicine in November 2023; the hiring of a founding dean is one of the first steps to establishing the college.
Named one of Pennsylvania’s Fifty Over 50 top leaders in 2024 by City & State Pennsylvania, Rose is one of fewer than 150 physicians elected as a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists by the Fellows of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists/American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists.
IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine team includes Ryan Smith, founding associate dean of clinical affairs, responsible for overseeing the clinical curricular areas of the doctor of osteopathic medicine program, including developing clinical training agreements; and Luke H. Mortensen, associate dean of preclinical affairs, responsible for overseeing the pre-clinical curricular areas of the program.
In addition to hiring the founding dean and securing funding, establishing clinical training sites for students is part of the successful accreditation process. Typically, students in colleges of osteopathic medicine spend the first two years of their education in the classroom; during the third and fourth years, students are based in the community at clinical sites.
IUP has finalized nine clinical training affiliation agreements for students in the proposed college of osteopathic medicine: Clarion Psychiatric Center in February; Armstrong County Memorial Hospital in January; Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in December 2024; Broad Top Area Medical Center, Hyndman Area Health Centers, Nulton Diagnostics and Treatment Center, and the Primary Health Network in November 2024; Indiana Regional Medical Center in September 2024; and Punxsutawney Area Hospital in June 2024.
IUP’s Indiana Campus Long-Range Facilities Master Plan update, approved in January 2024 by the IUP Council of Trustees, recommended Johnson Hall, Uhler Hall, and Stright Hall be the site for the health sciences cluster, with a renovated and expanded Johnson Hall as the primary location for the proposed college of osteopathic medicine.
This proposed health science cluster will provide a transformational modern medical education facility, supporting and housing the proposed college of osteopathic medicine and related IUP health science programs in the College of Health Sciences.
In October 2024, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors designated $2 million in design funds as part of the 2024–25 State System of Higher Education capital allocations budget for the academic building renovation for the health sciences cluster and proposed college of osteopathic medicine.
Funding for the proposed college of osteopathic medicine, in addition to the Fairman Family Foundation gift of $250,000 and $250,000 gift from an anonymous donor, includes:
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In December 2024, Theodore Lazzaro, board-certified surgeon and founder of Aestique Med Spa, gifted $50,000 to IUP for scholarships for students in healthcare professions;
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Senator Joe Pittman and Representative Jim Struzzi announced in October 2024 that $2 million from the 2024–25 state budget has been set aside for the project;
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In July 2024, IUP graduates Tim and Debra Phillips Cejka gifted $2 million;
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In June 2024, the Foundation for IUP committed $20 million;
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In May 2024, Congressman Guy Reschenthaler included $2 million for IUP’s project among his FY25 requested community projects and Senator John Fetterman included $2 million on his list to advance in the FY25 Community Project Funding process;
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IUP received a $150,000 allocation for the project in the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2024, which was sponsored by Congressman Reschenthaler and Senator Fetterman and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 9, 2024;
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In February 2024, the Board of Governors allocated $500,000 for a facilities feasibility study for academic facilities for IUP’s health sciences cluster and proposed college of osteopathic medicine;
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In January 2024, IUP’s Alumni Association Board of Directors authorized a donation of $500,000;
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In December 2023, Sen. Pittman announced that as part of the 2023–24 state budget, $2 million was set aside for the project;
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In July 2023, IUP graduates Nick Jacobs and Mary Ann Hoysan Jacobs donated $40,000 to advance the project. Nick Jacobs is a 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient who has a 1969 bachelor’s degree in education and a 1972 master’s degree in music education; Mary Ann Jacobs has a 1968 bachelor’s degree in music education and a 1993 master’s degree in adult and community education; and
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In May 2023, Rich Caruso, a 1983 accounting graduate from Meadow Lands, 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient and former president and current member of the Foundation for IUP Board of Directors and member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors, announced a pledge of $1 million for the project.